Travelers at Newark Airport are facing ground delays as thousands rush to join their families for Christmas Eve celebrations.
Today, nearly 17,000 flights across the United States have already been delayed, reports FlightAware. Adverse weather conditions on both coasts are threatening to disrupt the holiday travel plans of countless passengers.
The West Coast is bracing for heavy rain and strong winds, with large areas of California under flash flood and tornado warnings this week.
Meanwhile, a swiftly moving winter storm is predicted to deliver a snowy Christmas to the East Coast and northern U.S., while the Midwest is shrouded in fog expected to linger until tomorrow.
New Jersey’s Newark Airport, which manages approximately 1,200 flights daily, could experience incoming flight delays averaging around 43 minutes, as per a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advisory.
Ranked as the eighth busiest airport in the United States, Newark hosts around 50 different airlines.
The stoppage was caused by staffing issues and departing flights could also be affected, according to the FAA.
How long the delays will last remains unknown. Travelers were advised to check their flight status with their respective airlines.
Newark Airport could see arriving planes delayed by about 43 minutes, according to an alert issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (stock image)
Massive staffing crises caused by the government shutdown – which ran from October 1 to November 12 – caused ground stoppages en mass across American airports earlier this year.
More than 13,000 air traffic controllers were required to work without receiving pay during that time.
This year is predicted to mark a record for holiday travel.
About 122 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from where they live during the festive period between December 20 and January 1, according to AAA.
Of those travelers, a little more than eight million will board domestic flights – such as the ones currently delayed by the stoppage at Newark.
The New Jersey airport will be one of the locations most impacted by the heavy flow.
Port Authority estimated that roughly 5.7 million passengers will travel through Newark, John F Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Stewart International Airport, ABC 7 reported.
On Tuesday afternoon, Newark was experiencing an average delay of 15 minutes due to high flight volume (stock image)
The government shutdown from October 1 to November 12 caused massive ground stoppages in airports across the US earlier this year (stock image)
Newark has already been hit by delays over the last week.
On Tuesday afternoon, the airport was reported to be experiencing an average delay of 15 minutes due to high flight volume, as well as ice and snow in the area.
The incoming winter storm could mean between three and six inches of snow by Saturday morning in parts of New York City, Long Island and upstate New York.
Other areas, such as southwestern New York and northeastern Pennsylvania, could get up to more than a foot of snow by the weekend.
Airports around the US also struggled to keep up with the swathes of Christmastime travelers yesterday.
A ground delay was issued at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), while San Diego-Lindbergh Field (SAN) saw average delays of 15 minutes.
On the opposite coast, planes leaving from Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers were also delayed for approximately 15 minutes due to air traffic management.
Departures from Miami International Airport (MIA) were similarly affected.
Last month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed the flight delays that have plagued Americans all year.
He said the Trump administration would ‘delay’ and ‘cancel any kind of flight across the national airspace to make sure people are safe’, while adding that ‘safety is his top priority.’
Duffy added: ‘There is a level of risk when we have a controller doing two jobs instead of one. We manage and look out for it.’
