Robert Besser
09 May 2025

CHICAGO, Illinois: United Airlines will begin canceling around 35 daily flights—roughly 10 percent of its schedule—from Newark Liberty International Airport starting this weekend, citing persistent air traffic control staffing shortages and critical FAA equipment failures.

The decision follows a week of major disruptions at the airline's New Jersey hub, where United operates about 328 flights daily. The carrier was forced to delay, divert, or cancel dozens of flights due to issues the company says are beyond its control.

"Technology that FAA air traffic controllers rely on to manage the airplanes coming in and out of Newark airport failed—resulting in dozens of diverted flights, hundreds of delayed and canceled flights and worst of all, thousands of customers with disrupted travel plans," CEO Scott Kirby wrote in an email to customers. "Unfortunately, the technology issues were compounded as over 20 percent of the FAA controllers for (Newark) walked off the job."

The Federal Aviation Administration and the union representing controllers declined to comment.

To address long-standing congestion, the FAA shifted oversight of Newark airspace to Philadelphia last year. Still, chronic understaffing persists. The agency is reportedly about 3,500 controllers short of its target, with many existing employees working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks.

United said in November that it had already scaled back operations at Newark on a dozen occasions due to low FAA staffing, affecting more than 343,000 passengers. The latest move expands those reductions.