See Newark Airport Gate A17 sign transferred to National Park Service
Ceremony transferring Newark Airport’s Gate A17, from Flight 93, sign over to the National Park Service on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025.
Flight delays and cancellations at the tri-state’s three major airports continued March 17 amid the ongoing government shutdown that has caused friction between the local transportation agency and federal officials.
There were 180 flights delayed and 42 canceled at Newark Liberty International Airport as of 12:30 p.m., according to the tracking app FlightAware. There were an additional 170 delays and 71 cancellations at JFK, and 189 delays and 56 cancellations at LaGuardia.
The numbers, while still high, were well below the ones reported March 16 as rainy weather turned severe later in the day. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland from late in the morning through 7 p.m.
The conditions resulted in more than 1,200 airport delays throughout the day, including 515 at Newark, 423 at JFK and 347 at LaGuardia. There were an additional 902 flights canceled at the three locations: 446 at LaGuardia, 285 at JFK and 171 at Newark.
Airports locally and across the country have also been impacted by the partial government shutdown, which began Feb. 13 and has left tens of thousands of airport workers without pay. The shutdown centers on disagreements among lawmakers on allocating spending for airport security and other national safety measures, most notably Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A new video from the Department of Homeland Security, which the agency directed to be played in security lines at airports, states that the long wait times experienced by travelers are “due to the ongoing Democrat shutdown.” It also encourages the public to thank employees with the Transportation Security Administration, who “have shown up to work despite having missed paychecks.”
But not all airports are complying with the DHS request to play the video. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees Newark, JFK and LaGuardia, confirmed to NorthJersey.com that the message is not being shown at any of the three airports due to its political content.
“The Port Authority’s longstanding policies prevent airing of politically partisan messages at our facilities,” the agency said, “so our airports are not airing the video on airport-controlled screens.”
