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Passengers at Newark Liberty warned of delays due to air traffic control staff shortages

News 12’s Chris Keating is at Newark Liberty Airport checking on delays and cancellations.

Chris Keating

Feb 3, 2025, 5:52 PM

Updated yesterday

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Air travelers heading to Newark Liberty International Airport may be thinking about their safety after recent crashes around the country. Add to those tragic incidents, a plane that caught fire in Houston on Sunday.
Now, some JetBlue customers are being warned of possible delays out of Newark Liberty due to staffing issues. An alert was sent out from JetBlue to their customers which read, “We want to advise you that the Newark, NJ (EWR) airport is currently experiencing Air Traffic Control (ATC) staffing shortages due to unforeseen circumstances.”
At the JetBlue check-in within Terminal A, travelers confirmed the alerts. However, passengers told News 12 that they were not delayed. Arrival and departure boards also showed few issues. JetBlue seemed to be the only airline warning their customers.
Those flying on Monday seemed more concerned with safety. Kareem Brown flew in from Orlando.
“I had concerns. Obviously, I’ve been watching things unfold on the news, so I had some concerns, but relatively felt I would be OK,” he said.
But others like Keith Lefko, heading home to Florida with his wife, said he had no concerns.
“We have no choice, we have to go back,” he said.
On Sunday, in Houston, the right wing of a United Airlines plane caught fire. Passengers had to evacuate by using emergency slides onto the runway.
That follows the crash in Northeast Philadelphia on Friday in which a Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, crashed into a neighborhood – killing seven and injuring 22 people. The crew members aboard that plane have been identified – so has the 11-year-old girl and her mother. The plane’s voice recorder was found.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy was in Philadelphia following the crash.
“They’re going to look at weather, were their medical concerns, was there technical, mechanical issues on the airplane,” Duffy said.
The NTSB says that air traffic controllers didn’t hear anything of concern before the plane crashed.
Along the Potomac River, answers are still being sought in the crash involving a Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight. Crews were on the water on Monday removing large sections of the aircraft.
The NTSB says the jet’s flight data recorder has been retrieved as investigators determine if the helicopter was higher than the allowed 200-foot altitude. There were no survivors in that crash.