Newark weather and ATC delays disrupt 140 flights at EWR

Disruption overview

A fresh wave of disruption hit Newark Liberty International Airport on 18 June 2026 as bad weather, congestion, and air-traffic-control restrictions led to at least 140 delayed or canceled flight movements by midday. United Airlines saw the heaviest impact, but delays also affected Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Porter Airlines, Jazz Aviation, and TAP Air Portugal, with knock-on problems for flights to London, Dublin, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Toronto, and Montreal. Because the main cause appears to be weather and ATC restrictions outside the airlines’ control, cash compensation is unlikely, but affected passengers should still be offered rebooking or refunds, meals, and hotel accommodation if needed.

Get flight compensation

Check if the airline owes you money for your delayed or canceled flight

Disruption details

Passengers flying through Newark Liberty International Airport on 18 June 2026 faced another day of disruption after poor weather across the US Northeast combined with congestion and air-traffic-control flow restrictions. By midday, flight boards at Newark showed at least 136 delays and 4 cancellations, adding up to a minimum of 140 disrupted movements in just over 6 hours.

For passengers, this meant longer waits, tighter connections, and a lot of uncertainty. Even though the cancellation count was still relatively low early in the day, the sheer number of delays quickly spread across domestic services and long-haul routes on both sides of the Atlantic and Pacific.

By early afternoon, the disruption included:

• At least 136 delayed departures or arrivals.

• 4 canceled flights.

• Rolling delays on Newark departures to London, Dublin, Frankfurt, and Lisbon.

• Knock-on disruption for domestic routes, as well as services to Toronto and Montreal.

United Airlines, Newark’s dominant carrier, absorbed much of the disruption. Its departures to London, Dublin, Frankfurt, and Lisbon were pushed back alongside key domestic spokes in the Midwest and West. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines also saw feeder flights delayed into their own hub networks, while Porter Airlines and Jazz Aviation struggled to keep tightly timed Toronto- and Montreal-bound rotations on schedule.

TAP Air Portugal’s Lisbon services were also delayed, raising the risk of missed onward connections across the European Union and the United Kingdom. Long-haul passengers arriving from Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany then had less time than planned to clear US immigration and make onward flights from Newark.

As the day went on, some travelers with single-daily onward flights faced the possibility of being stranded overnight if evening departures slipped further. Long customer-service lines built up as airlines tried to reroute affected passengers, sometimes through other New York-area airports or onto later long-haul departures.

The immediate trigger was a mix of unsettled weather over the Northeast and air-traffic-control ground-delay measures linked to heavy traffic. Newark has little margin for error: a tightly packed schedule and ongoing ATC staffing shortages mean even modest weather problems can reduce runway capacity quickly. Regulators have already imposed slot caps to help manage congestion, but Thursday’s disruption showed how exposed the airport still is to operational shocks.

Airlines urged customers to keep their booking contact details up to date, switch on app notifications, and keep checking departure screens. Further short-notice timing changes, equipment swaps, or cancellations remained possible through the late evening, with no firm timeline for when operations would fully settle.

Because this disruption appears to have been driven mainly by bad weather and air-traffic-control restrictions outside the airline’s control, compensation under EC 261 is unlikely. Still, that doesn’t mean you’re without support. If your journey was disrupted, your airline should help with rebooking or a refund, and provide care such as meals, refreshments, and hotel accommodation if you’re delayed overnight. If you’d like to understand what applies to your flight, AirHelp’s free flight checker is a simple place to start.

Protect your future trips with AirHelp+

Secure your flights, luggage and get lounge access