Newark Liberty Airport is bracing for more delays on Memorial Day weekend
There is more turbulence for travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration is significantly reducing the number of hourly flights as the airport deals with runway construction, radar outages and an air traffic controller shortage.
And all of it comes ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
- Read more: Newark Liberty Airport is safe to fly, United Airlines says. Here's the latest on flight delays.
28 in and 28 out for the next few weeks
There was a familiar site at Newark Liberty on Tuesday night as lines snaked along the terminal.
There has been chaos at the troubled airport for weeks, and the cuts in the number of flights come just in time for the holiday weekend, meaning even more delays could be on the horizon.
"We've had some telecom issues, as you reported on. We have staffing issues, and the key is safety," U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
Effective immediately, 28 arrivals and 28 departures will be allowed per hour until construction is complete on one of the runways by June 15. However, construction will continue on Saturdays until the end of the year.
The FAA says it will continue to monitor the situation, and if it thinks it can add flights without increasing delays, it will.
More controllers will help fix the problem, Duffy says
The outages have triggered major disruptions, but Duffy says with more staffing will improve things.
"So I'm hopeful that telecom will be fixed, and if we get more controllers on board, we're back to normal," Duffy said.
Passengers say they have had enough.
"There on long lines and we missed our flight to Paris due to security checks. It was packed," one said.
