Construction, technical issues, and air traffic controller shortages at Newark Liberty International Airport have caused delayed and canceled flights. One Newark pilot documented his experience taking off in a now-viral TikTok.
What happened at Newark Airport?
Pilot and TikToker Peter Cappio (@pilotpete.fly), who previously appeared on ABC’s The Bachelorette, said he had to wait behind 26 other planes on the runway on Wednesday.
He explained that the two major runways at the airport were closed for construction.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), flights departing from Newark were capped at 28 starting May 20. This is due to a combination of factors: technical issues, an air traffic controller shortage, and ongoing construction. This reduction will continue until June 15.
“Every plane has to take off and land on the parallel runway,” he said in the clip. “It caused a backup bigger than I’ve ever seen at Newark.”
Cappio claimed it took his flight 57 minutes from pushback to takeoff.
Despite the delay, Cappio praised the air traffic controllers.
“Super skilled getting airplanes airborne as quickly as possible while dealing with airplanes coming in to land,” he said.
His praise comes after a series of radar and communications outages.
The first two of the four in a matter of just three weeks occurred on April 28 and May 9. Those reportedly lasted for up to 90 seconds. The outages left air traffic controllers unable to communicate with airplanes in the sky. The latest and fourth outage occurred on May 20.
The outages have prompted widespread skepticism of safety at Newark Airport.
@pilotpete.fly EWR Airport delays #pilot #airlinepilot #aviation #pilotpete #pilotlife #airplane #flying ♬ original sound – pilotpete.fly
What do travelers think of the Newark pilot’s experience?
In the comments of Cappio’s video, travelers shared their experiences with traveling through Newark Airport.
“I fly out of Newark in 2 weeks and already got an email that our flight is currently delayed an hour,” one wrote.
“Why is Newark my home airport. Freaking suck I use united status to fly. I have to travel every other week ugh,” another said.
“I just drove by that airport and WOW… the airplanes are stacked up like sardines from what I could see from the highway,” a third added.
Others said they haven’t experienced any delays.
“I took off from there last Wednesday and returned Monday afternoon! No issues!!” a commenter shared.
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