Ground stop at Newark causes nightmare for hundreds
NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) -- Frustrated domestic and international travelers were stranded at Newark Liberty Airport Monday evening.
“You are ready for travel, and you want to go and you can’t,” said New Jersey resident, Licita Benelva. She had a 5 p.m. flight to Paris. Her final destination, Malaga, Spain.
The FAA told PIX11 News that equipment issues at their airspace operations center in Philadelphia, which oversees airplanes in and out of Newark resulted in a ground stop at around 1:30 in the afternoon, causing major delays and cancellations through the rest of the day.
“We are waiting for the luggage to be de-pla-whatever, they have to be in the back somewhere, they have to bring them back, and we have to be rebooked,” added Benelva.
The travel chaos caught some passengers by surprise.
“I actually don’t know anything, now getting my bag at the belt. A few minutes before boarding just got an e-mail that it was cancelled,” said Niklas.
The technical problem was fixed by late afternoon but then another problem, according to the FAA, staffing issues lead to not enough air traffic controllers.
“The hallways are littered with people, just people everywhere. I just don’t have any thoughts that this is going to be fixed soon any anytime soon. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t,” said Chris McLaren as he looked for a place to sleep after his flight to San Diego was cancelled.
At Newark Airport, where United Airlines has a hub, the airline has diverted at least 35 flights to other airports. The cause behind this equipment outage remains unclear, AS DOES the staffing shortage.