In October 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration suggested expanding the present hourly flight arrival and departure caps at Newark Airport. The idea may have an impact on airport business, travel, and passenger numbers.
By marginally raising the number of hourly departures and arrivals from 68 to 72, the FAA’s proposal has some positive implications for passengers, airlines, and the airport agency.
However, it is below the peak of more than 80 flights per hour, which may have an impact on ticket costs, flight availability, and airport revenue, according to a travel expert.
The dramatic 90-second shutdown of the air traffic controller radar systems at Newark Airport on April 28 and the ensuing occurrences in May, which caused daily delays and cancellations and irritated travelers, are directly responsible for the extension.
According to spokesperson CherylAnn Albiez, the FAA’s request for public comment regarding the proposed flight cap extensions is being reviewed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs Newark and other bi-state airports.
In order to guarantee that Newark can handle as many people and flights as safely and effectively as possible, we are still dedicated to working with the FAA, she stated.
The FAA closed its comment period on Friday.
Why is the FAA extending the caps?
Following a tumultuous spring in which a number of equipment malfunctions resulted in the loss of radar and radio frequencies that air traffic controllers use to direct aircraft into and out of Newark Airport, flight caps were implemented in May.
The accidents made it clear that outdated equipment used by air traffic controllers, such as telephone data lines between the Newark Airport airspace control center and the Philadelphia Airport Traffic Control Center (TRACON), has to be replaced.
The FAA cited this as one of the reasons for extending the flight cap until October 2026, along with the need to educate additional air traffic controllers to address staffing shortages and continuing runway reconstruction at Newark.
Prior to the air traffic control issues, Newark’s two major runways were out of commission in April for planned repaving and upgrades, which resulted in voluntary flying reductions.
Two weeks ahead of schedule, on June 2, the paving was finished. According to Albiez, Port Authority officials anticipate that the project will be finished by the end of 2025, with the remaining work being done on the weekends.
According to Eric Jones, a professor at Rowan University and co-founder of the vacationer website, the suggestion is regrettably required even though it is not ideal. The deficit of air traffic controllers at Philadelphia TRACON is still present, and improvements will take time.
“Under the upcoming holiday and summer travel seasons in 2026, there are not enough resources to handle the previous daily volume of arrivals and departures at Newark,” he stated.
On May 8, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced an extraordinary campaign to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system and hire more air traffic controllers, in response to the Newark radar failures and a midair crash that killed 67 people in Washington, D.C.
Duffy set a lofty target to complete the construction by 2028, assuming Congress appropriates an estimated $31 billion.
A hidden benefit for travelers.
According to Jones, expanding flight caps for passengers should lead to fewer cancellations and annoying flight delays.
According to Jones, the cap ensures that United Airlines and other airlines operating out of Newark run more effectively. The cap guarantees more dependable operations because delays and cancellations hurt both passengers and airlines.
According to Flight Aware, Newark Airport still experiences over two dozen flight cancellations per day, and hundreds of delays are common.
Newark is one of the main hubs for United, the biggest airline at the airport. In a communication sent to staff on August 8, CEO Scott Kirby also supported the suggestion.
According to him, the extension is essential to guaranteeing that Newark continues to be a dependable and secure crown gem for millions of local and foreign tourists.
According to Port Authority figures, United was responsible for 68% of the airport’s traffic this year.
“Newark is now consistently the most punctual airport in the New York City region, and our operations there are the best they’ve ever been,” Kirby said. The FAA and Secretary Duffy’s efforts to make sure that the itineraries leaving Newark correspond with the airport’s real capacity are directly responsible for that.
Fares and business.
According to Jones, the increased flight cap shouldn’t result in higher airfares from Newark.
In order to keep travelers using the airport, he anticipates that United Airlines and other airlines will maintain reasonable prices through at least October 2026.
Restoring trust in the airport can be achieved by reasonable rates and few cancellations and delays, according to Jones. I will personally keep checking the prices of flights into and out of Newark on a regular basis as a frequent traveler.
Kirby made a discount announcement in May, claiming that flights from Newark would be the cheapest in history.
Fares at those price points are not available to all travelers. Reddit users complained that the cost of flights from Newark was double that of flights from JFK.
According to Jones, passengers may look for other airports with better travel options if there are fewer planes per hour.
If they haven’t already, I anticipate that some individuals will look for flights to John F. Kennedy International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport, he said.
Bookings bouncing back?
According to United CEO Kirby, reservations at Newark have increased.
“We think the capacity limits reflected in this extension are appropriate and consistent with the physical capacity of the airport and the current FAA staffing,” he said, adding that our reservations have returned to normal compared to a few months earlier.
With fewer daily travelers, businesses on the airside or following TSA screening checkpoints—particularly restaurants and bars—will likely lose some money, Jones said.
Regretfully, he said, eateries, pubs, and souvenir shops might have to raise their prices a little to make up for the decline in sales. Although some would close, I don’t anticipate a large-scale company migration.
This does not imply that the airport will become a ghost town with no restaurants or shops.
I anticipate Newark to be extremely full on most days through October 2026, with plenty of people spending money on food, beverages, and other goods, he said, despite the recently announced cap.
Less passengers = less revenue?
The financial performance of Port Authority aviation during the first half of 2025 was impacted by the initial round of flight reductions that were put into place in May.
In a report to the commissioners last month, Port Authority CFO Elizabeth McCarthy stated that 28 million passengers utilized the bi-state authority-run airports in the first half of 2025, which is 3% fewer than the 2024 passenger volume.
Due to FAA-mandated flight restrictions at Newark, it is 6% less than the (budget) goal, she added.
The worst month was May, when the number of passengers fell by 20%.
This might cause the authority to fall short of the 150 million passenger target set in the 2025 budget that was passed last December. If achieved, that would represent a 2% gain over 2024.
According to the 2025 budget, aviation is expected to generate $3.9 billion in gross income. Passengers’ and airlines’ aviation fees account for 45% of total $1.74 billion. At $1.67 billion, or 43% of the budget, airport property rentals rank as the second-largest source of revenue.
The long-term effects of that could influence the Port Authority’s choices and the timing of significant projects like the replacement of Terminal B, which is now the oldest terminal at Newark Airport.
According to Jones, the planned flight cap shouldn’t significantly impact revenue.
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