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The weeks of continued disruptions at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) has put America’s Air Traffic Control System in the spotlight and has revealed a broken system. Decades of failing to properly invest in the system has prevented good-faith efforts to make technology upgrades and bolster the staffing of our nation’s hard-working air traffic controllers.
But don’t conflate these challenges and constraints with safety. The truth is that all the flights in and out of EWR are absolutely safe. When there are FAA issues -- technology outages, staffing shortages, etc. -- the FAA requires all airlines to slow down aircraft and/or cancel flights to maintain the highest levels of safety.
At United, we do our part to maintain safety as well by ensuring our pilots have thousands of hours of flight experience and supplement that with regular simulator training – we also have procedures that our pilots follow to re-establish communication if controllers lose radio contact to navigate the airplane safely to its destination.
In short, neither the FAA nor United will ever compromise on safety.
LAWMAKERS REACT TO NEWARK AIRPORT CHAOS: ‘YOUR FAMILY DESERVES TO KNOW YOU’LL BE SAFE'
But when the FAA has technology outages or staffing shortages, it leads to delays and cancellations for our customers and that’s the issue we’re determined to solve.
The good news is that we are on the verge of solving this persistent customer delay problem at EWR. All that’s left is the FAA using the authority -- that only they have -- to designate EWR as a Level 3 airport.
United CEO Scott Kirby (United Airlines)
President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have introduced a plan to fund and execute a long-term modernization of our antiquated system. And while that is a huge step forward, it will also take time -- there are no short-cuts to overhaul a technology system this vast, complex and critical to our economic and national security.
Immediately returning Newark to a Level 3 slot-controlled airport is the most effective way to provide relief to air traffic controllers and deliver a better experience for customers.
EWR is a crown jewel of the region and an international gateway for the U.S.– close to 50 million people flew through EWR last year – but the truth is there are more flights scheduled there than the FAA can handle.
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Every other large capacity constrained airport uses slots to make sure that the number of scheduled flights in any given hour does not exceed the airport’s maximum capacity. And EWR is the only large airport in the world that no longer has this basic common-sense rule (in 2016, the FAA de-slotted EWR).
FILE --A flight departs from Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, revealing the majestic sight of One World Trade Center and the lower Manhattan skyline in the background. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
Even worse, when you look at customer impact data at EWR before 2017 when the airport was slotted and compare it to the years just before and after the pandemic (2017-2019 and 2022-2025), the numbers are *worse* at a de-slotted EWR:
- 18% more customers – an extra 120,000 people a year – had their flight cancelled
- 17% more customers – an additional 1.9 million people – had an arrival delay
- And 43% more customers had an hour delay or longer – nearly one million people per year
Newark’s air traffic controllers do impressive work with professionalism and a deep focus on safety, while operating some of the most complex airspace in the world. But they manage it with technology developed during World War II and with staffing levels far below what is needed to operate at full capacity.
And again, the president and secretary’s plan to modernize the ATC system and get EWR ATC fully staffed is a giant leap in the right direction.
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But to make an impact at EWR that will be felt today, the FAA must also return EWR to a Level 3 slot controlled airport.
It was a mistake to de-slot the airport in 2016 -- every single data point says so -– and we know that implementing slots is the immediate action the FAA can take to reduce congestion there now.
