Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) has been in the news a lot lately, and not in a good way. The airport has seen massive operational issues, due to a combination of runway construction and air traffic control issues. So along those lines, there’s at least some good news now…
In this post:
Newark Airport runway construction finishes early
One of the major challenges facing Newark Airport has been that one of the airport’s three runways has been under construction, significantly limiting capacity. Specifically, we’re talking about runway 4L/22R. Work on the $121 million project first started in March 2025, though the runway was only fully closed in mid-April 2025.
While the project was supposed to be wrapped up by June 15, 2025, there’s a positive development. The runway is actually reopening as of today, so the project has wrapped up 13 days ahead of schedule. An airport construction project wrapping up well ahead of schedule?! Color me impressed!
Keep in mind that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently greatly limited traffic at Newark, to avoid the issues with delays. With this reduction, the airport has been limited to 28 flight arrivals and 28 flight departures per hour.
With runway construction completed, the plan is to increase that to 34 arrivals and 34 departures per hour. Since the work wrapped up early, that should mean that the airport’s capacity can be boosted to that level. That’s exciting, and should lead to fewer delays.
Does that spell the end of problems for Newark?
Newark Airport’s third runway reopening is fantastic news, as it alleviates one of the major issues the airport has been facing. However, it’s not the only problem so I wouldn’t expect it to be fully smooth sailing from here. Newark Airport still faces issues with air traffic control:
- Newark has seen repeated, full air traffic control outages, where both radio and radar contact has been lost between controllers and planes
- Newark has a serious shortage of air traffic controllers, which is not just a function of the general air traffic controller shortage, but also the trauma leave that controllers have been on due to the issues
So all runways being operational should help with operational reliability. However, it’s not the only problem the airport has, so don’t be surprised if there are still some issues. Things should get much better, though.
Bottom line
Newark Airport’s closed runway has reopened nearly two weeks ahead of schedule. This is a positive development, as the closed runway was causing a lot of the operational issues we saw at the airport. However, the air traffic control issues remain, both in terms of technology and staffing. So I’d expect things to be better than before, but still not perfect.
What do you make of Newark Airport’s third runway reopening?
Simply Amazing ! Nothing gets done ahead of schedule in Newark NJ.
Ben, did you see Last Week Tonight's piece on ATC?
3 runways at one of the smaller smaller airports near NY. You Yanks don't know how lucky you are!
@UnlceRonnie - it's Newark. Even if EWR had 5 runways, it's still Newark.
This is indeed great news for the overall national aviation network but 34 flights/day - which EWR should be allowed to return - is still far short of what the airport previously handled; UA and CO before has had 65-70% of the traffic at EWR for decades so they will be the greatest impacted.
The runway construction will continue but with closures on Saturdays and nights through the fall and the DOT will impose...
This is indeed great news for the overall national aviation network but 34 flights/day - which EWR should be allowed to return - is still far short of what the airport previously handled; UA and CO before has had 65-70% of the traffic at EWR for decades so they will be the greatest impacted.
The runway construction will continue but with closures on Saturdays and nights through the fall and the DOT will impose strict limitations on EWR capacity during those periods.
The real question is how much the DOT will limit EWR's capacity after November when all construction should be finished; they seem determined not to allow EWR to return to being one of the most delay prone airports in the US and that title preceded the runway construction and the ATC system failures.
The Port Authority of NY and NJ has released traffic statistics for April and it shows a dramatic shift in traffic away from UA at EWR and to LGA and JFK; that shift will likely remain until all of the runway construction is finished and will persist beyond October if the DOT is determined to fix the chronic delay issues at EWR.
LGA was the big winner in the traffic shift and AA actually has gained the most traffic on a percentage basis. They likely had the capacity to absorb alot of people that have been scared away from flying from EWR. UA execs say that UA's LFs at EWR plunged by 15 points.
DL became the largest carrier in NYC; UA only had a 0.3% lead over DL before April on a rolling 12 month basis and that has flipped to a 0.6% advantage for DL
B6 strangely saw the biggest declines showing that UA's passengers are fleeing to AA and DL - which speaks volumes about the benefit that many expect UA to gain from the UA/B6 partnership.
Yada yada Delta will always be #1 and I’m so threatened by UA because of my microd
the only microanything is those that have been incessantly yelling that UA's EWR hub was the greatest thing since sliced bread and UA is the largest airline in NYC when it is apparent esp. to the FAA/DOT that EWR has been chronically overscheduled and that is how UA has been able to be as large as it has been in NYC.
The DOT/FAA are very unlikely to allow EWR to return to the same size...
the only microanything is those that have been incessantly yelling that UA's EWR hub was the greatest thing since sliced bread and UA is the largest airline in NYC when it is apparent esp. to the FAA/DOT that EWR has been chronically overscheduled and that is how UA has been able to be as large as it has been in NYC.
The DOT/FAA are very unlikely to allow EWR to return to the same size - and since UA has had 65-70% of EWR's traffic for decades, it is they that will be impacted.
AA and DL's two airport NYC hub structure is operationally more sustainable than a single airport hub. DL has accumulated more slots in NYC than UA has in flights and that is paying off as EWR capacity is reduced. It is not likely for EWR to return to its pre-runway construction capacity.
DL could very retain the largest carrier title in NYC into the future and that is a title that many UA fans have been happy to tout
Times and circumstances change.
Yada, Yada, LetMBH …. only thirteen days to go before we will all know if DL is still the No 1 U.S. airline ….
@AeroB13a - HUH?
Todd, your surprise might well have turned to scorn, which in turn could turn to anger if it is announced at the Paris Air Show, that Delta is still positioned above all other U.S. airlines.
"This is indeed great news for the overall national aviation network but 34 flights/day..."
With runway construction completed, the plan is to increase that to 34 arrivals and 34 departures per hour.
and you do realize that the FAA said that EWR has operated with the upper 40 number of departures and arrivals for years?
34 is still a substantial cut in capacity.
a full percentage point swing in NYC share between DL and UA did not happen because of just 6 flights/hour at EWR.
"...did not happen because of just 6 flights/hour at EWR."
How are you calculating six flights/hr.?
see the article
I did.
Ben: "...the plan is to increase that to 34 arrivals and 34 departures per hour."
You: "This is indeed great news for the overall national aviation network but 34 flights/day..."
Still no idea how you got to 40. But you do you.
I bet you TF it did when Trump worshipper Scotty realizes how much EWR was taking a hit
Not a minute too soon. Hopefully they address the ATC issues too. It's been a sh*t-show at EWE lately.
The FAA is aggressively laying new data and communications cables which should address the system failure issues.
Staffing will return to what was normal when these leaves of absence end in a few months at the longest.
EWR and PHL Tracon staffing will improve with the rest of the US but controllers have done an outstanding job w/ the equipment and staffing they have.