Departures not expected to resume until 6:14 p.m. ET, and growing fears it could drag on even longer.
Travellers hoping to arrive at the major US travel hub aren’t being spared either, with delays of around 30 minutes already being reported for inbound flights.
“The FAA has said a traffic management program is in place for those due fly into Newark Airport.”
The disruption comes just three days after former President Trump’s Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, took to the podium to promise improvements.
In a Monday press conference, Secretary Duffy announced a new runway had opened two weeks ahead of schedule, a move touted as a key part of efforts to fix Newark’s long-standing operational problems.
But those hopes were quickly dashed as the airport descended back into mayhem mid-week.
Secretary Duffy also issued a chilling warning at the time: “Flight operations would need to be scaled back in light of the technology issues of recent weeks.”
And the problems he referred to are nothing short of alarming. Since April 28, there have been three separate power outages at Newark, with air traffic control screens going dangerously blank — even as planes were taking off and coming in to land.
As frustration builds, passengers are once again caught in the crossfire of an air travel system struggling to stay airborne.
