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Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) is United’s New York City hub as a holdover from the Continental days (I know it’s in New Jersey). I lived in Hoboken, NJ for many years and this was my home airport. It has its charms (especially since the new Terminal A opened), but you need to know how to navigate it on a good day. Agents can be surly and passengers are often a lot. That said, those are not the reasons why I’d rethink flying into Newark this holiday. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been wreaking havoc on United’s operation there due to staffing shortages and it’s just getting worse as holiday travel picks up.
New: @united sends out statement on @FAANews ATC staffing issues at Newark causing “significant disruption” pic.twitter.com/rECONIjxzk
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) November 26, 2024
United Airlines carries as much as 79% of the passengers that pass through its fourth largest hub. When there is an issue like the present one due to staffing shortages United feels it many times more than any other carrier at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
I got caught in the delays this evening when flying in from Tampa International Airport (TPA). My flight (in the air as I write this article) was delayed around one hour and 50 minutes. I can stomach weather delays, mechanical delays, and even when an airline can’t get its act together around aircraft utilization or crew scheduling. But, this issue with the FAA has caused disruptions for more than 343,000 passengers between November 1st and November 25th alone.
Holiday travel is set to hit an all-time high this week with Thanksgiving plans taking more folks to the airport than ever before. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is getting ready to break a record. The government agency is projected to screen 18.3 million people between November 26th and December 2nd. This represents a 6% increase over Thanksgiving 2023.
The TSA projects that the three busiest travel days will be Tuesday, November 26th and Wednesday, November 27th as well as Sunday, November 30th. More than 2.8 million people are expected on November 26th, 2.9 million on November 27th, and more than three million people will be screened on December 1st.
Anthony’s Take: A record number of travelers and issues with the FAA’s traffic management initiatives are not going to mix well over the next month as I’m sure we’ll see records broken again for Christmas. Hopefully, this will be somehow brought under control, but I’m uncertain how many delays we’ll see this holiday season.
(Featured Image Credit: Welcome Pickups.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
