New Jersey voters polled on who’s to blame for Newark Airport mess

✈️ Newark Airport issues stack up
✈️ Poll shows NJ voters split blame
✈️ Partisan politics tie into views

Immense travel issues have surfaced at Newark Liberty International Airport since early May, and New Jersey voters in a recent survey have lots of blame to go around.

Over half of voters who took part in a recent Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill New Jersey survey — 53%  of respondents — would feel unsafe taking a flight from Newark, while 47% said they would feel safe.

Just 20% of those polled said they have not been following the chaos closely, while 4 in 5 New Jersey voters said they have been paying close attention to issues at Newark Airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration’s outdated technology has drawn a spotlight since the controllers handling Newark were shifted last summer from Long Island to Philadelphia.

At least three radar disruptions involving lost communication to planes mid-air have worsened the staffing crisis.

Several FAA air traffic controllers have taken 45-day "trauma leave" following an April 28th incident in which the equipment did not work for a full minute and a half.

When asked who is responsible for air traffic control issues at Newark airport, poll respondents answered as follows:

▪️31% believe the Trump administration is most responsible
▪️29% say the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
▪️20% believe the Biden administration
▪️8% say the Gov. Phil Murphy administration
▪️6% believe it is Congress

When survey results are broken down along political party affiliations, the numbers are predictably lopsided.

“Democratic voters blame the Trump administration (49%) and the FAA (24%), Republican voters blame Biden (38%) and the FAA (33%), while independents blame the FAA (34%), Trump (29%) and Biden (16%),” Emerson College Polling Executive Director Spencer Kimball said.

The Emerson College survey involved 1,000 New Jersey active registered voters, between May 11 and May 13.

Air traffic controller staffing shortages have been a long-term issue nationwide and the FAA has not met the staffing goal for the Newark airspace for a number of years, federal officials have said.

It was the consistently low staffing levels and low training success rate out of New York that led to the shift in control of the Newark airspace to Philadelphia, the FAA has said, adding that there is a  "healthy pipeline of controllers, with training classes filled through July 2026."

Erratic, volatile weather has been a repeated issue for air travelers nationwide.

Adding another factor to the massive delays and cancellations was the recent closure of one of the airport's busiest runways.

In mid-April, the busiest runway for departing flights at Newark was shut down for a massive rehabilitation project that includes repaving.

The 11,000-foot-long, 150-foot-wide runway was last fixed up over a decade ago, according to an advisory on the airport website.

That runway work was expected to last until at least mid-June.

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