Newark airport struggles with more delays over Memorial Day weekend

Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News on May 25, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — Newark's airport was again plagued by delays over Memorial Day weekend, with more than 150 flights in and 230 flights out delayed on Saturday, according to flight-tracking data.

With more than 380 delays, Newark Liberty International Airport saw the second most delays in the nation Saturday, trailing only Denver International Airport, where storms disrupted operations.

The troubles were somewhat mitigated on Sunday, with a total of 132 flights — 78 arriving, 54 departing — delayed as of Sunday afternoon, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

“Get me once but don’t get me twice. I learned my lesson,” would-be Newark traveler Abraham Shiepe told News 12 New Jersey.

Weather was not to blame for the weekend issues. While Newark piled up more than 380 delays on Saturday, Kennedy Airport saw just under 200 delays and LaGuardia recorded hardly any delays.

Newark has been troubled with delays and cancellations for weeks, as a shortage of air traffic controllers, aging technology and runway repairs have combined in disastrous fashion.

The problems became so extensive that federal authorities cut the number of flights allowed in and out of the airport to 28 arrivals and 28 departures per hour. Those restrictions will continue until at least June 15 and could be extended further.

But the cutbacks have not stopped consistent delays at the airport. As delays continued into Sunday, flights were arriving and departing an average of 35 minutes late, according to FlightAware.

________