The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued an interim order limiting the number of aircraft movements at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) following weeks of operational issues.
Since April 15, 2025, Newark’s runway 4L/22R has been closed for rehabilitation works, and this is expected to continue until June 15, 2025. Even after re-opening, the runway will be closed on Saturdays only until the end of the year for additional minor repairs.
On top of that, two radar outages in the past three weeks results in hundreds of flights being delayed, with five controllers going on trauma leave following the first incident on April 28.
Amid these challenges, Newark still saw up to 40 arrivals and 40 departures per hour. The FAA has since met with a number of airlines operating out of EWR, and has issued an interim order limiting total traffic movements to 56 per hour (28 arrivals and 28 departures). This move is expected to cut hourly movements by 30%.
Once runway 4L/22R re-opens, they will bump the cap up to 68 per hour (34 arrivals and 34 departures) until October 25, 2025.
The FAA met with officials from United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air, with United expecting to be hit the hardest given that Newark is one of the airline’s larger hubs.
However, United supports the reduction, saying, “reducing the number of flights scheduled at Newark will help ensure that we can safely and reliably operate the flights that remain on the schedule.”
Newark is also dealing with staffing shortages. There are currently 24 controllers manning the combined airspace, even though target staffing should be 38.
