Move FM Global News

NEW YORK CITY, New York: Passenger numbers at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey have dropped sharply, according to two travel companies. This happened after a series of air traffic problems made travelers choose other nearby airports instead.

According to Kayak, a part of Booking Holdings, arrivals at Newark have dropped by 19 percent and departures by 15 percent since April 28. The data shows that safety concerns are making travelers change their plans.

Many people are now willing to travel farther to avoid Newark. This comes after several technical problems at the airport, including a radar and telecom blackout on April 28 that lasted less than two minutes but caused dozens of flight delays and cancellations. This event made many flyers nervous.

Social media posts about the airport are mostly negative—98 percent of them, according to Sprout Social.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it will reduce the number of flights at Newark to ease congestion.

Kayak CEO Steve Hafner said travelers now prefer LaGuardia first, then JFK, and only choose Newark as a last option—even if they live closer to Newark. “They just can’t risk long delays,” he said.

According to Data Appeal, an Italian tourism data firm, between April 28 and May 20, arrivals at Newark dropped 13 percent compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, LaGuardia arrivals rose by nearly 6 percent, although JFK saw a 7 percent drop because of lower international travel.

Even before these outages, Newark’s total passenger numbers in March were already down 2.7 percent compared to last year, based on data from the Port Authority.

Some travelers are disappointed but feel they have no choice. Gabrielle J., 24, from Newark, said she loves Newark Airport but will fly from JFK to the Caribbean this summer. “Once the outages happened, we knew we couldn’t fly from Newark,” she said.

Ongoing runway repairs, expected to finish by June 15, have also hurt Newark’s performance.

Stef Anderson, 28, from San Francisco, had a bad experience on May 16 when her United flight to Newark was delayed over eight hours before being canceled. She hopes her May 28 flight to Paris goes smoothly, as she plans to stay loyal to United Airlines because of her status.

“They have me in golden handcuffs – otherwise, I would fly Alaska,” she said.