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A series of crises has led to chaos at Newark Liberty International Airport, with flight cancellations, delays, and staff shortages causing major disruptions for more than 10 days with no end in sight.
Now, Democratic politicians are asking the feds to intervene, hoping to resolve the issues at one of the nation’s busiest airports.
Here’s what you need to know.
What happened at Newark Airport?
Officials have identified three major reasons for the problems at Newark Airport: about 20% of air traffic controllers taking trauma leave, technology issues caused by old equipment, and the closing of a runway that needs to be fixed.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union representing air traffic controllers, disputed previous reports that its controllers walked off the job last week, explaining the controllers took leave under the Federal Employees Compensation Act after experiencing “a traumatic event on the job.”
That’s because on Monday, April 28, air traffic controllers in Area C of the Philadelphia TRACON (PHL), who separate and sequence aircraft in and out of Newark Airport, “temporarily lost radar and communications with the aircraft under their control, unable to see, hear, or talk to them,” the union said.
The issues were made worse by runway construction that started on April 15, and closed Runway 4L-22R as part of a $121 million rehabilitation project.
United Airlines (UAL-0.79%), which has a hub in Newark, has been hit particularly hard. The airline had to cancel 35 round-trip flights per day starting this weekend, saying in a statement, “We feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers.”
Newark Airport remains plagued by dozens of delays each day.
What are politicians saying about Newark Airport?
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy had called the delays and cancellations “completely and utterly unacceptable” when they started. But politicians are now upping their calls for action.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer is now asking for “a full inspector general investigation as to what went on.”
“To say that there is just minor turbulence at Newark Airport and the FAA would be the understatement of the year. We’re here because the FAA is really a mess. This mess needs a real forensic look, a deep look into it,” the Democratic Senate Minority Leader said.
Sen. Cory Booker said his “office continues to press the FAA for answers on how they’re addressing this major travel disruption.”
And New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer asked the Trump administration to immediately send more controllers to cover for those who took leave. He also demanded that emergency funding be deployed to upgrade the technology that controllers use.
“We must immediately, immediately surge our investment and fix the technology issues at Newark airport and other airports around the country. We cannot wait a day longer to get to work to fix the technology issues at Newark airport,” Gottheimer, who is running to be governor of the Garden State, said.
Democratic lawmakers also questioned whether Elon Musk’s DOGE had a role in exacerbating the air traffic controller crisis.
What is the Trump administration saying about Newark Airport?
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy told CNN that “DOGE has had no role in cutting our critical safety mission at DOT. We’ve expanded that.”
Duffy wrote on X that Schumer “played political games at the expense of our air traffic control system getting patched. Now he wants to play more politics as we try to fix the problem once and for all.”
The Trump administration has emphasized that this crisis isn’t new and claims it’s cleaning up a mess that the Biden administration ignored.
Duffy dinged former president Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, then the secretary of transportation, for spending “less than 1 percent of the money” of Biden’s landmark infrastructure bill on the air traffic control system. “Instead, they spent their time injecting social justice and climate equity crap into everything,” he said.
The Secretary has insisted that despite concerns, it is safe to fly. “I fly all the time,” he told Fox News. “Do I feel like it’s safe? Absolutely.”