FAA Issues Ground Stop at Newark Airport

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport on Oct. 29.

The ground stop was due to staffing shortages caused by the ongoing government shutdown. It has since been lifted, but as of 6:30 p.m. ET, a 40-minute ground delay remains in place.

“This is horrible and totally unnecessary,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on X.

“President [Donald] Trump continues to call on Democrats to vote for the clean CR to OPEN the government.”

More than 13,000 air traffic controllers have been working without pay since the government shutdown began Oct. 1, exacerbating the ongoing staffing shortages.

As of 6:30 p.m. ET, more than 3,100 flights have been delayed within, into, or out of the United States, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. There have been 144 flight cancellations as of that time.

Wednesday’s delay came after airports like Newark Liberty International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Chicago O’Hare International, Southwest Florida International Airport, and Oakland Airport experienced delayed flights due to staffing issues on Oct. 26.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that flight delays could increase as controllers call in sick.

Some staffers have had to pick up a second job just to pay their bills, according to National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) President Nick Daniels.

“Air traffic controllers have to have 100 percent of focus 100 percent of the time,” Daniels said during a press conference on Tuesday at Laguardia Airport. “And I’m watching air traffic controllers going to work. I’m getting the stories. They’re worried about paying for medicine for their daughter. I got a message from a controller that said, ‘I’m running out of money. And if she doesn’t get the medicine she needs, she dies. That’s the end.’”

Air traffic controllers have demonstrated at no less than 20 airports across the United States to demand an end to the government shutdown.

The FAA sent The Epoch Times an automated statement on Oct. 26 in response to an inquiry as to whether the repeated ground stops and delays were due to a lack of air traffic controllers.

“As Secretary Duffy has said, there have been increased staffing shortages across the system,” the statement reads, referring to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.

“When that happens, the FAA slows traffic into some airports to ensure safe operations.”

The FAA was already short around 3,800 air traffic controllers before the shutdown began.

More than 50,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are also working security lines at airports without being paid.

The shutdown could impact the pockets of many in America. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released an analysis on Oct. 29 estimating that the shutdown could cost the U.S. economy up to $14 billion, which won’t be recovered.