'Never again': passengers at Newark Airport air their frustrations after majoy delays

Take what Audrey just showed us and combine it with a shortage of air traffic controllers

and all that means that you have to plan accordingly if you're traveling in or out

of New York Airport this weekend. That is where Fox 5's Duarte Giordino is standing by right now

Duarte, how are things looking over there? Not looking good. We've spoken with so many people

who all tell us the same thing. They're just done with this airport, Arthur. And right now

Inbound flights, on average, are delayed by 90 minutes. That's before you even get on the flight, and the situation could get even worse because of that weather system that Audrey mentioned

But let's be real. The big culprit right now is the Federal Aviation Administration and the fact that they keep on slowing down air traffic due to longstanding staffing shortages in air traffic control

All week, this has meant massive delays, at times stretching past five hours

After days of all this, United Airlines announced it's cutting back. In a statement, CEO Scott Kirby said, quote

we are unilaterally canceling 35 round-trip flights per day from our Newark schedule starting this weekend

Since there is no way to resolve the near structural FAA staffing issues we feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers Now in some ways those cuts they actually had a difference They relieved pressure here at the airport

Flight activity at Newark is down 20 percent compared to last year, but delays and frustrated

flyers, they're everywhere. Six o'clock this morning, we got a notice from United that there

would be a weather delay and don't show up at the airport until later. And that's what we did. And

And it's been a great day. I landed from Copenhagen and my flight to Minneapolis is delayed by three hours

And I miss my connection in Minneapolis to Bismarck. Oh, my gosh. Did they warn you about this or was this all a surprise

No, it was all when I got off the plane, I started flipping and then that was it. There's only three flights now a day to Minneapolis when there used to be five or six

So are you going to continue coming through Newark? Never again. Never again

No, never. No, no. Why? And that's a big question. and fear. With ongoing construction and the staffing shortages, delays like this, experts say

could become the new normal. And if fewer people are actually traveling through Newark, well

the ripple effects of that could stretch beyond the terminal and affect the local economy

At Newark International Airport, Duarte Gereldino, Fox 5 News. Arthur? Certainly understand her frustration. Thanks very much, Duarte