United Airlines CEO Warns Newark Airport Is ‘No Longer Safe’ Due To Staffing Shortage Amid Massive DOGE Cuts To FAA

Baila Eve ZismanMay 7, 2025, 11:27 pmNews >

Safety concerns at Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey have resulted in the seventh straight day of delays, and a warning from the CEO of one of the biggest global airlines to avoid Newark at all costs.

Air traffic controller staffing problems paired with equipment and technology failures have caused numerous severe flight delays or cancellations and last Friday, CEO of United Airlines Scott Kirby declared, “[Newark Airport] cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead.”

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump‘s administration, through Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency, has decreased the number of federal workers in nearly every agency, with cuts to the FAA raising substantial safety concerns. In February, 400 FAA staffers were laid off due to DOGE cuts.

Kirby’s announcement followed a warning from a Newark air traffic controller that it is “not a safe situation right now for the flying public.”

In a letter to United Airlines passengers, Kirby explained, “We feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers.”

He further detailed, “In the past few days, on more than one occasion, 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…unfortunately, the technology issues were compounded as over 20% of the FAA controllers for EWR walked off the job.”

These concerns caused United Airlines to cancel 35 round-trip flights out of Newark per day.

A spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said, “The Port Authority has invested billions to modernize Newark Liberty, but those improvements depend on a fully staffed and modern federal air traffic system…we continue to urge the FAA to address ongoing staffing shortages and accelerate long-overdue technology upgrades that continue to cause delays in the nation’s busiest air corridor.”

Newark Airport issued a ground stop on Monday morning due to low ceilings (cloud layers too close to the ground).

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged in a press conference last week that the FAA is short about 3,000 air traffic controllers nationwide.