284 delays, 22 cancellations at Newark

Newark Liberty International Airport was hit by 284 delays and 22 cancellations on Thursday, according to Travel And Tour World, as thunderstorms and flash-flood alerts disrupted flights ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. The disruptions affected carriers including United Airlines, Republic Airways, Jazz Aviation and American Airlines, the report said. The FAA’s Newark status page showed a weather-related ground delay program in effect, with average arrival delays of 2 hours and 39 minutes and an end time listed at 8:30 p.m. EDT. Newark Airport’s own alert page said on May 20 that flight disruptions and delays were tied to thunderstorms in the area. ### Which flights and airlines were caught up in the disruption? Travel And Tour World said the delays and cancellations affected a mix of domestic and regional routes, including service tied to St. Louis, Toronto, Kansas City, Grand Rapids and Portland. The outlet said hundreds of travelers were stranded as the disruption spread across regional links at Newark. Airlines named in the report included United, Republic Airways, Jazz Aviation and American. (faa.gov) The FAA’s real-time Newark status page said no destination-specific delays were being reported at one point, but it warned that airport conditions were general rather than flight-specific and told passengers to check with their airlines. That means individual flights on the affected routes could vary even while the airport remained under broader weather constraints. ### What did federal aviation data show at Newark? (nasstatus.faa.gov) The FAA airport-status page for Newark listed thunderstorms as the cause of a ground delay program on Thursday. The same page showed average arrival delays of 2 hours and 39 minutes, with departure delays under a traffic-management initiative ranging from 1 hour and 1 minute to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Weather conditions listed by the FAA included thunderstorm, heavy rain and windy conditions. (fly.faa.gov) Flight-tracking and airport-monitoring sites reflected the same pattern of weather-related disruption, though snapshots varied over time as conditions changed. FlightView showed Newark under a thunderstorm-related traffic management program earlier in the day, with arriving flights delayed by an average of 2 hours and 39 minutes at one point. ### Why is Newark especially exposed this week? (faa.gov) The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said on May 18 that about 5.6 million travelers were expected to use its airports and vehicular crossings during the five-day peak Memorial Day travel period from Thursday, May 21, through Monday, May 25. That forecast put Newark’s weather disruption at the start of one of the busiest travel stretches of the season. (flightview.com) Newark’s airport website also carried a public advisory telling passengers to check with their airline for the latest status of their flight. The FAA’s National Airspace System dashboard listed system status updates on Thursday as storms moved through the region. ### Are other New York-area airports facing strain too? LaGuardia was also dealing with operational pressure this week after a sinkhole shut one of its two runways, according to reports cited in the source briefing. (panynj.gov) That means travelers moving through the New York area could face knock-on delays even if they were not booked through Newark. (newarkairport.com) Newark passengers looking for the next update can monitor the FAA’s Newark airport-status page and the airport’s alerts page as thunderstorms move through on May 21. The Port Authority’s Memorial Day advisory runs through Monday, May 25, with peak holiday traffic expected across Newark, JFK and LaGuardia. (faa.gov) (panynj.gov)