The FAA issued an interim order reducing the flight arrival and departure rate at Newark Liberty International Airport. The new limits took effect on May 20.
The FAA discussed the plan with airlines during last week’s delay-reduction meeting. The FAA may change the targeted limits if it determines that capacity exists to accommodate more flights without a significant increase in delays, or that further flight reductions are necessary.
Under the interim order, the maximum hourly rate will be:
- 28 arrivals and 28 departures until construction of Runway 4-Left/22-Right is complete. Daily construction will end on June 15, 2025, but it will continue on Saturdays until the end of the year.
- Outside of the construction period, there will be 34 arrivals and departures until Oct. 25, 2025.
“Our goal is to relieve the substantial inconvenience to the traveling public from excessive flight delays due to construction, staffing challenges and recent equipment issues, which magnify as they spread through the National Airspace System,” said Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau.
The FAA is taking additional action with the following:
- Adding three new, high-bandwidth telecommunications connections between the New York-based STARS and the Philadelphia TRACON. This will provide more speed, reliability and redundancy.
- Replacing copper telecommunications connections with updated fiber-optic technology that also have greater bandwidth and speed.
- Deploying a temporary backup system to the Philadelphia TRACON that will provide redundancy during the switch to a more reliable fiber-optic network.
- Establishing a STARS hub at the Philadelphia TRACON so that the facility does not depend on a telecommunications feed from the New York STARS hub.
- Increasing controller staffing. Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which directs aircraft in and out of Newark, has 22 fully certified controllers, five fully certified supervisors and 21 controllers and supervisors in training. Ten of those 21 controllers and supervisors are receiving on-the-job training. All 10 are certified in at least one position in Area C, and three are certified in multiple positions. This means they can work those positions without supervision from an instructor.
The FAA expects to have numerous incoming controllers, with training classes filled through July 2026.
