United Tells Flyers to Avoid Newark Airport, Offers Free Flight Changes

Things have to be really bad when an airline advises flying into or out of one of its major hubs, and offers free flight changes to another airport.

But that’s exactly what United has done with the ongoing melt-down at Newark Airport.

United Airlines has slashed more than thirty daily flights at Newark Airport, due to a combination of FAA staffing shortages and one of the airport’s three runways out of service for repaving.

It is utter chaos at EWR, with thousands of passengers stranded by cancelled flights and others delayed for up to six or more hours, missing baggage and more.

Add to that the additional chaos and delays to pass TSA security starting on May 7, when travelers are required to have a Real ID to board a plane.

Free Flight Changes

United announced that passengers with travel plans to or from Newark between May 6 to 17, 2025, are eligible for a “flexibility” waiver to reschedule flights without any change fees or fare differences, so long as tickets were purchased on or before May 4.

It’s the second such waiver from United. The first one applied to tickets purchased on or before April 29 – when the trouble started – for trips scheduled between May 1 and 5.

The free flight changes apply only to new flights in the same cabin that are leaving and arriving within two days before or after the original travel dates and between the original cities of travel, or Philadelphia or New York.

Good luck getting a reservation, since United simply does not have as many flights into or out of JFK, LaGuardia or Philadelphia as it does to Newark, its main East Coast hub.

If you are booking an upcoming flight into or out of NYC – on United or any other airline – avoid Newark for nearby JFK or LaGuardia, even Philadelphia or Boston, until the dust, uncertainty, frustration and anger settle – and that’s on all sides – passengers, United, flight controllers and the spill out to baggage handlers and even the airport restaurants and their staffs.

Why United is Advising to Avoid Newark Airport

Newark Airport is one of the busiest in the world, and one of its runways is out of service, being repaved before the peak summer travel season begins.

That means one-third of arrival/departure capacity is out of commission, forcing delays.

But delays at Newark are nothing new.

• my own recent experience with flight delays at Newark –
• United routed me to a ski trip in March to Mammoth, California, via LaGuardia and Denver, and all went well.  However, my return trip, also via Denver, was into Newark.
• Departure from Denver was delayed more than one hour and several gate changes.
• Because of the departure change, and I arrived at EWR nearly two hours late, including circling EWR for 20-ish minutes before landing.
• So this EWR capacity problem did not start in May – it affected me already in March.

There’s also an ongoing shortage of air controllers nationwide, including at Newark, where problems with old technology make everything worse.

You may have heard that Newark’s radar screens went blank for at least 90 seconds on April 28th, and air traffic controllers lost the ability to see planes or communicate with pilots.

“Imagine driving down the highway in traffic and someone puts blindfold over eyes and tells you to keep driving and when you come back from driving dark you have to figure out what to do next,” a source told CNN.

It was bad enough that several air controllers took a medical leave for trauma.

There’s already a shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers, according to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.  This just makes it worse.

There have been several crashes since January, when the Trump Administration and its DOGE group began slashing budgets and personnel at crucial federal agencies, including the FAA.

How to Get To & From EWR

How to Get To & From JFK

How to Get To & From LaGuardia

How to Protect Yourself

For travelers flying through Newark or any other US airport –

• Download the airline’s app  for real-time updates about delays or cancellations
• Provide your mobile number on your ticket registration for real-time updates
• Book early morning flights to avoid cascading delays
• Consider alternate airports nearby
• Avoid tight layovers through any airport anywhere in the world
• Ask for hotel, food, or mileage compensation if your flight is canceled or delayed more than two hours
• Never leave home without travel insurance that protects you from delayed or cancelled flights, missing baggage and more.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 25+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter currently serves as Immediate Past President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA).

ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter also is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA) and the North American Snowsports Journalists Assn. (NASJA).

Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.

Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter