Officials don't expect weather delays for Thanksgiving travel at Newark Airport

NEWARK − Newark Liberty International Airport could have one of its busiest holiday seasons ever this year, with more than a half a million people traveling there on Sunday alone. Despite some rain in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, operations officials for EWR say the airport does not expect weather to cause travel delays.

John Weigand, managing director of operations at Newark Airport, says he does not expect any delays on the Tuesday schedule of around 400 flights, barring any air traffic control issues.

Weigand says rain typically "slows us down on the ramp a little bit. We need to be a little more careful with the speed in which we are moving at the ramp." But he says delays will usually only be caused by freezing rain which is not in the forecast at the moment.

A few years removed from the pandemic, United Airlines expects nearly 5% more customers than in 2019 and 13% more compared to last year. United anticipates more than 5.9 million people flying the airline during the Thanksgiving travel period.

Cyrus Sarkari, the managing director of EWR customer service, believes the airport is well prepared for the surge in passengers.

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"We have been planning for our holiday travel ever since we got past our summer travel," says Sarkari. He added that everything is in place from staff management to working with their partners like the TSA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and even food concessions.

Sarkari recommends downloading the United app before arriving at the airport. "They can have all the information they can get at the airport at the tips of their fingers. It tells them what their flight schedule is, where the aircraft is coming from and what time it is expected to leave," Sarkari said. Weigand added that you can also check the status of your flight on the app.

Don Wisniewski, a passenger who was flying at Newark, said he experienced no problems at the airport on Monday. He said there were no delays upon his one hour flight from Pennsylvania with his wife. He finished off his short trip by awaiting his Uber after he picked up his bags.

The United Operations officials hope everyone has a similar travel experience. They recommend showing up early and having patience upon this historically busy travel period.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Thanksgiving travel at Newark Airport: No weather delays expected