2025 is not a good year for anxious fliers, and it’s an especially difficult time for travelers flying in and out of Newark. On Monday, Apr. 28, 2025, controllers at the New Jersey airport experienced a 90-second outage that prevented them from seeing planes on radar scopes; during that time, there was at least a full minute where pilots were unable to communicate with air traffic.
Trouble continued into this week, as thousands of would-be fliers experienced delays and cancellations at Newark, causing people online to question whether traveling out of the airport was safe or advisable.
Pilot Vinny, who shares the TikTok account @steph_and_vin with his wife, flies for a major airline based out of New York and is dedicated to answering the public’s questions about aviation. On Tuesday, May 7th, he posted a video breaking down what happened at Newark, why delays continue, and what travelers should expect moving forward.
Is Newark Airport safe right now?
Speaking from West Palm Beach, FL., during a flight delay, Pilot Vinny sought to clear up some of the misinformation being spread about the Newark situation. First, he explained that contrary to rumors being spread online, Newark air traffic controllers are not walking off the job.
“These guys are consummate professionals, they are phenomenal at what they do, and they would not do that,” he explained in his video. These rumors likely stemmed from reporting published this week stating that several controllers requested trauma leave after dealing with the stress of last week’s outage.
Newark Airport, Pilot Vinny explained in his video, is tied with JFK Airport as one of the two most difficult facilities for air traffic controllers to work in, and the controllers who operate out of that airport are some of the best in the country.
No, controllers are not walking off the job
In June of 2024, Newark’s controllers were relocated from an approach control facility in Long Island to one in Philadelphia to train the Philadelphia controllers on how to operate within Newark Airport, which Pilot Vinny said has the least amount of space to work with in terms of moving planes around.
@steph_and_vin What is going on in Newark Airport? Is it safe to fly? Pilot Vinny explains… #pilot #aviation #atc #airtrafficcontrol #newark #ewr #newjersey #nj #tracon #jfk #lga #newyork #ny #faa #philadelphia #pilotvinny #breakingnews #fyp #fypシ ♬ original sound – stephandvin
Pilot Vinny doesn’t fly to Newark, but he has friends and colleagues who do. “From what I understand,” he explained in his video, “the FAA has not been updating the equipment, the backups that were in place in New York are not in place in Philadelphia right now, and there have been a number of outages on the frequencies.” The Daily Dot has not independently verified these claims.
In a series of messages exchanged with the Daily Dot, Pilot Vinny shared that these issues are not widespread and, as far as he knows, were an isolated equipment malfunction restricted to Newark’s facilities.
Commenters were grateful for the clarification on what is an increasingly murky travel situation. Cara wrote, “I’m married to an ATC. It’s illegal for them to strike. No one is walking off the job. Thanks for this video, there’s a lot of false information being spread.”
What should the traveling public expect?
For people scheduled to fly in or out of Newark, the biggest concern right now is whether or not they should change their flights. Pilot Vinny addressed this question in a second video posted to his account on Tuesday, May 6, saying that he understood how the misinformation circulating could contribute to an uptick in fear and anxiety.
He explained that Newark reacted to the outage by putting additional measures in place to allow the controllers to continue to do their jobs safely. Those changes included reducing the number of incoming and outgoing flights to a level that the controllers could safely manage, which contributed to the cancellations and delays travelers are currently experiencing.
On top of that, one of Newark’s two main runways is closed, further limiting the airport’s travel capacity. In a message to the Daily Dot, Pilot Vinny stated that he was unsure when these issues would resolve.
In his second video, Pilot Vinny reiterated that the Newark controllers are some of the best in the country and are doing “a hell of a job” given their professional obstacles. “They are in some of the busiest airspace in the country, they do their jobs safely, professionally, and efficiently. Even on the suboptimal equipment they’ve been provided.”
So, how should those traveling to Newark proceed? Pilot Vinny said to expect continued delays and cancellations. “If that’s a nuisance or you don’t want to deal with that, I would probably consider another airport.”
@steph_and_vin Replying to @bfarley2014 . . #pilot #aviation #atc #airtrafficcontrol #newark #ewr #newjersey #nj #tracon #jfk #lga #newyork #ny #faa #philadelphia #pilotvinny #breakingnews #fyp #fypシ ♬ original sound – stephandvin
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