I was scheduled to fly to Newark from Venice, Italy on a United Airlines flight on May 04, 2025, and I received an email from the carrier four days before the flight to prepare for the upcoming flight. Then one day before the flight I got a text message reminding me to check in now, which I dutifully complied with. Then on the day of the flight I was getting ready to check out of the hotel when I saw a text message from the carrier advising that because of “FAA staffing shortages at air traffic control, high winds, and thunderstorms across the New York City Metropolitan areas have potential to cause disruptions for all airlines”.

This was followed by another text message a little later informing me that my flight will depart at 2:15 pm instead of scheduled 11:05 AM. The options airline offered included rebooking the flight for another day, an earlier or a later departure, or connection through a different city. After studying and exploring the options I concluded my best option was to accept the delay and roll with it.

On reaching the airport I discovered that the flight was now scheduled for departure at 3:30 PM, and my flight from Newark had been rerouted to take me to Las Vegas and then to Houston. Based on the new boarding passes, I was to spend whole of the night in the air scuttling from east coast to west coast and back to Gulf Coast. The plan was an ill-conceived, red-eye, no-sleep scenario. Being a light sleeper who can hardly sleep in the aircraft, seeing the boarding passes I blew my top gasket. The staff there just shrugged their shoulders and said sorry as there was nothing in their hands. They asked me to try my luck upon arriving at Newark.

I was not ready for this risky venture of being sleepless in three flights, so I called United helpline from Venice. After a very long wait I was finally put in touch with a living person. The person at the other end after listening to my pleas said he will connect me with the right team to help. Another waiting period, finally someone answered the phone, and I explained to him what a ridiculous flight arrangement had been made, which made no sense. He assured me to help and asked me to wait a while he tried to fix it. Finally, he came back to inform me that the next available direct flight to Houston was full so I will have to travel the next day. With great disappointment I accepted his offer, and he promised to provide for hotel and meals in Newark which will be sent to me via airmail.

In the meantime, I decided to get through the formalities and get to the gate for the flight. Once there I was asked by the staff if I had changed my travel plans. I told her that I was concerned about the flight after reaching Newark and had called the United’s help line about it. She told me that my booking from Venice had been canceled. Before I opened my mouth, she said she would reinstate my boarding passes, which she did. The flight was further delayed and left at 3:50 PM. Finally, I landed in Newark at around 7:30 PM PST. After dealing with Immigration, Customs, and United’s Customer Service to get new boarding passes, I headed out to the Hotel Shuttle Parking lot. After waiting for 20 minutes in the rain and winds I reached the hotel room at 9:30 PM.

Next morning, after breakfast I took the hotel shuttle to the airport at 8:00 AM. As per the boarding pass that I got the night earlier I headed to Terminal A from the Hotel Suttle Parking lot via air train. After you deboard from the elevated Air train system, you have to come to ground level with your luggage and walk another 10 minutes to reach the terminal or to take a shuttle bus to the terminal. As lugging suitcases were little hard I took the bus and finally got to the check-in area. I tried to check my bags at the kiosk, but the kiosk was down. Then I tried another one which worked fine but at the last step it would not print the tags. With the help of airline staff finally I was able to take care of that, then proceeded to deposit the bags. While the bags were being weighed and accepted, the staff informed me that the flight was from Terminal C.

Anyway, after taking care of the bags I went for a security check-up. The lines were impossibly long and moving very slowly. After spending about 20 minutes in line, I asked the TSA staff for help as our Terminal and gate both have changed. With her help I cleared the security check-up and then had to take a shuttle to go to Terminal C, and finally to my gate just in time for the boarding. Again, the take-off was delayed because of rain and long aircraft lines to the runway. Finally, after spending an additional 16 hours plus overnight, I was in Houston for what was scheduled to be 15 hours flight including transit time.

As can be seen from my own ordeal that the passenger complaints about their experience with Newark airport are legitimate. Based on my checking about the happenings established the following findings:

·         It started badly with an air-traffic technology outage disrupting the flights with cancellations and delays. The snow balling effect further worsened the situation.

·         Runway construction limited their availability to one runway only.

·         Air-traffic control staffing issues further exacerbated the chaos.  

·         The Air Train system connecting the three terminals and parking garages, plus shuttle pick-up etc. is not up to the mark. Plus, even the signs directing the passengers were not up to the mark. If you are a first timer there best of luck.

·         United Airlines also needs to do some homework to improve their operations, logistics, and technology etc. As this is based on the experience with one airline alone, it is not to be taken as a pat on the back of other airlines.

Based on my own experience and my readings of the situation with Newark airport, in future I will think twice before taking the option to fly from there. I have now realized that Newark is one of the largest airport in the US, with top ranking on cancellations and delays, so why would I risk going through the meltdown again.