My gosh. We know that the air traffic control situation at and around Newark International Airport (EWR) is currently a complete mess, as air traffic control centers are severely understaffed, all while air traffic controllers have suffered repeated full radio and radar outages. Well, the situation at the airport may be worse than ever before at this very moment…
In this post:
Newark air traffic control crisis reaches new low
In recent hours, rumors have been circulating that Newark had zero air traffic controllers scheduled for this evening, as flagged by @xJonNYC. The New York Post is now reporting on this situation, claiming to have some exclusive insights from an air traffic controller. I can’t speak to the accuracy of this report, but if it’s even a little bit true, it’s beyond shocking.
According to this report, there’s a single qualified air traffic controller scheduled to work at Newark this evening (Monday, May 12, 2025), between 6:30PM and 9:30PM, in addition to a trainee. They’ll be responsible for handling anywhere from 168 to 180 takeoffs and landings, which the controller describes as “pure insanity.” As a point of comparison, that number is usually supposed to be 15 staffers per shift, given that they oversee five radarscopes with different sectors.
What’s even wilder is that the airport was apparently facing a “zero ATC event,” to describe a scenario where no one was scheduled to show up for work. One air traffic controller canceled his day off to come in and work, preventing that scenario from happening.
An FAA spokesperson claimed that there’s “no point at which we will have zero air traffic controllers,” and that there are “at least three controllers scheduled for each hour,” without clarifying how many are fully certified, and how many are trainees. Either way, that’s a long way from standard staffing. The spokesperson also didn’t deny that zero people were scheduled for the shift.
According to the same source, there were only two air traffic controllers working the night shift on Sunday, and he said that he has “never seen anything like this” in decades of being an air traffic controller:
“If you get below half of that standard, so seven, your safety begins to be compromised and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) knows that. So what they’ll do is put out ground stop delays and that’s what we’re seeing across the country. But it’s still just dangerous when 1-3 controllers are getting slammed.”
If there’s any silver lining with this mess…
If there’s any upside to all of this, it’s that hopefully things have finally gotten so bad that they can only get better from here. Our air traffic control system has suffered decades of neglect, with not enough investment in staffing and technology.
The problem is, we just kept letting things worse little by little. Now we’re finally seeing bipartisan efforts to invest in air traffic control infrastructure, and that’s long overdue.
Keep in mind that part of the reason that staffing has gotten even worse in recent times is because some air traffic controllers have “taken time off to recover from the stress of multiple recent outages,” in line with the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, which “covers all federal employees that are physically injured or experience a traumatic event on the job.”
So this is just a cycle of crappiness, and our air traffic controllers and the traveling public deserve better.
Bottom line
Newark Airport is currently having an air traffic control crisis, whereby the region is consistently short staffed. This is for a variety of reasons, including frequent radar and radio outages, which have caused some employees to take trauma leave. That’s all on top of the standard staffing shortages across the country.
The disaster is perhaps reaching a new level today, as zero air traffic controllers were reportedly scheduled for an evening shift. One certified controller ended up coming in on his day off, and is apparently assisted by trainees.
It’s not entirely clear how many trainees there are, but one thing is for sure — the current fragility surrounding staffing is a major problem. I think we all owe the certified controller working at Newark tonight a beer (but, like, later… not during his shift).
What do you make of this Newark air traffic control mess?
I have an advanced STEM degree and several years ago, I was looking into a possible career change and thought ATC could be interesting. Checked the government website - it was clear that I "too old" to even apply for a job. I have friends who have started medical school at ages that are too old to start ATC training. I recall the cutoff at 35 year/old - no wonder they dont have enough
Ben, you obviously have sources all across the aviation industry. I strongly suggest you use these sources to look into the process of taking the EWR airspace and forcing it to be moved to PHL. Most in the public doesn’t know about this and need to understand it was the catalyst for these major issues we’ve had that people are just now hearing about
I see no silver lining in this. And I think, sadly, there might have to be another tragic castrophe like AA5342 @ DCA before we see meaningful action by this impotent, declining government.
All empires come and go .....,.
Ben, Toxic Tim’s timeout was a lovely respite for your readers. He clearly learned nothing from that experience. Like many longtime readers, I find that his nonsense distorts your blog and makes me not want to read.
The truth the FAA will deliver to UA will be far harder for you and a whole lot of other people than anything I can possibly write.
I don't have enforcement power. The DOT and FAA do.
ditto
Don't read. Ain't nobody gonna miss you.
Bye Felicia.
The FAA National Airspace Status page shows that EWR has 101 minute ground delays which is considerably less than it was earlier today.
It is highly unlikely that the report is true or the FAA pulled in staffing.
and let's be clear that the real root of all of this chaos at EWR is because UA and other airlines - UA still has over 2/3 of the flights at EWR - failed to pulldown...
The FAA National Airspace Status page shows that EWR has 101 minute ground delays which is considerably less than it was earlier today.
It is highly unlikely that the report is true or the FAA pulled in staffing.
and let's be clear that the real root of all of this chaos at EWR is because UA and other airlines - UA still has over 2/3 of the flights at EWR - failed to pulldown schedules enough to reflect the planned closure of one of the two parallel runways. UA has operated 65-70% of the flights at EWR since it took over the EWR hub from CO which also operated about the same percentage.
And despite the calls by Kirby to re-add slot controls to EWR, no other carrier has sustained more than 5% of the flights at EWR and yet on-time performance at the airport has lagged LGA and JFK since the CO hub was opened.
EWR is simply not capable of operating as a hub the way CO and UA have used it.
Yes, the FAA has to get the IT supporting EWR working and reliable and they have to staff the facilities but the real meltdown has been due to overscheduling.
and the more that EWR is in the news - it makes every national newscast these days - the more traffic shifts to LGA and JFK to the benefit of AA, B6 and mostly DL.
and the FAA is still planning to impose strict capacity limits at EWR that will decimate the UA EWR hub as we know it now.
Typical Tim Dunn the UA hater.
You actually blame ATC meltdown on UA.
It's a matter of time before Matthew the UA apologist will kick you out.
ATC technology has failed multiple times at EWR.
ATC is NOT failing to do the job of getting planes in and out of EWR w/ the available runway capacity.
Tell me how many flights UA had scheduled at EWR the day before the runway closed for replacement and how many they have now.
THAT is the reason for the delays.
the FAA IS responsible for getting controllers on the job and to provide the...
ATC technology has failed multiple times at EWR.
ATC is NOT failing to do the job of getting planes in and out of EWR w/ the available runway capacity.
Tell me how many flights UA had scheduled at EWR the day before the runway closed for replacement and how many they have now.
THAT is the reason for the delays.
the FAA IS responsible for getting controllers on the job and to provide the technology they need to do their job.
The delays are NOT because of the latter as much as some want to blame the FAA.
It is not about hating anyone.
It is about cutting through the noise to get to reality.
Reagan shockingly fired 11,000 ATC live on air from the WH Rose Garden for going on strike. ( no fan of Reagan ). Many ATC returned to work, but those that did not were replaced by military ATC. Apparently it worked quite well. Nobody died. Not saying this is not the same situation, but poaching from the military might make sense now.
No. I've had the past 7 of 8 prior exp mil trainees wash out. Must compare NAS complexity, volume, and equipment, and also look at how canned mil ATC has become in most areas. (Eglin and some excepted.)
You obviously know nothing about the current ATC system and how much busier and complex it is than in the 80s. There is absolutely zero chance military controllers can work any busy level of traffic at an ARTCC or a busy TRACON environment such as EWR. The entire airspace system would come to a halt and airlines would lose billions.
Ron, they are working in the same space. Military ATC are in fact more busy and dealing with more complex issues. Many are younger because of enlistment time. Try to place classically trained ATC on an aircraft carrier. Or in a combat zone. You know nothing.
"Traumatic event" aka stress like everyone who works a job?
Weak people. Or at least greedy.
Were you homeschooled by a racoon?
Depends on if the home is in US or UK.
Would be taught by raccoon in the US.
Regardless, racoon or raccoon, both are in a union.
What GPA did the raccoon give you?
Y'all thought the FAA & the FDA were here for our safety? Lmao, gotcha!
It was. But things changed after 20 Jan 2025.
Not for FAA.
Things changed since the MAX went down and wasn't grounded immediately. Not Jan 20.
@DrDisrespect
The FDA was here for our health by allowing all of these gums, carrageenans, dyes and additives in our food for decades?
One is unsure if this is still the case today, however, in my day LHR ATC was shadowed by RAF Uxbridge who could intervene.
In the UK the RAF ATC’s could be called in to aid the civil community, is that not also the case in the U.S.?
Military called in to aid civilians.
That's the snowflake's politically correct way to call a coup d'etat.
Eskimo in the. US military it's called TDY, you are temporarily transferred. You loose no time in accruing your service time and benefits.
Ok Maryland. I stand corrected.
TDY. That's the US snowflake's politically correct way to call a coup d'etat.
You are temporarily transferred to become the commander in chief. You loose no time in accruing your service time and benefits.
I honestly cannot understand your foolishness about this.
Eskimo, I find much of what you post to be interesting and possibly credible. The drivel you have posted in response to my factual statement is the exception. One can actually detect an uneducated troll like response in your words, bro.
It’s astounding how the United States has allowed key infrastructure to become degraded over the years. ATC, bridges, roads, even the nuclear missile silos which rely on ancient computer disks. You are all a hair’s breadth from disaster. Start raising taxes to pay for modernization before it’s too late.
Trump was trying to raise tax to 145%.
All the tax money has gone to fund illegal aliens, pet projects, government handouts for food, housing, va benefits, etc. it's astounding how bad it is.