United offers free ticket changes amid Newark airport delays, cancellations
The New Jersey airport is reeling from staffing shortages and equipment issues.
NEWARK, N.J. -- United Airlines is letting customers change flights for free as massive flight delays and cancellations continue at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, one of the busiest airports in the United States.
The Chicago-based airline, which has a major hub at Newark, announced that passengers with travel plans to or from Newark between May 6 to 17, 2025, are eligible for a "flexibility" waiver that will allow them to reschedule flights without any change fees or fare differences, so long as tickets were purchased on or prior to May 4.
United said free flight changes only apply 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.
This is the second waiver announcement from United, following an initial waiver that applied to tickets purchased on or before April 29 for trips scheduled between May 1 and 5.
What's happening at Newark Liberty International Airport
United began cutting about 35 daily flights out of Newark on May 3, citing ongoing air traffic control staff shortages and equipment issues as a major reason behind the significant change.
An equipment outage at Philadelphia TRACON, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Airport, caused the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily halt departures to Newark, kicking off a series of flight headaches for travelers. Roughly 900 flights have been canceled at Newark since the outage.
Newark Airport has also been reeling from air traffic controller staffing shortages, with existing controllers doubling up on work and taking trauma leave, especially after last week's major outage.
RELATED: Air traffic control screens went dark for nearly 60-90 seconds during Newark airport outage: sources
The FAA is working to bring in air traffic control supervisors from around the country to help ease the problem, though it is unlikely to provide a quick solution to the ongoing problems.
The FAA acknowledged in a statement to ABC News that existing technology and systems are "antiquated."
"Our antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce," the FAA said in part. "We are working to ensure the current telecommunications equipment is more reliable in the New York area by establishing a more resilient and redundant configuration with the local exchange carriers. In addition, we are updating our automation system to improve resiliency."
