Newark Airport took 66% air travel hit in 2020 thanks to COVID

Daniel J. Munoz//January 27, 2021//

Newark Airport took 66% air travel hit in 2020 thanks to COVID

Daniel J. Munoz//January 27, 2021//

Listen to this article

Newark Liberty International Airport – one of the largest transportation hubs in the nation – posted a 66% drop in air travel between 2019 and 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest numbers on travel data, released by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, show the extent to which the pandemic has decimated travel as Americans opt to stay at home. The bi-state agency oversees the Hudson River crossings, Newark Airport, and LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Some of the New York City areas other commuter agencies like NJ Transit and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have seen ridership crater in 2020, amid mass business closures and shifts to telecommuting.

Meanwhile, the PATH train, operated by the Port Authority, saw a  68% drop in weekday ridership in 2020 compared to 2019, or just 55,355 average commuters during each week day, according to a Jan. 27 statement.

NJ Transit, Port Authority and the MTA are all vying for federal relief in the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan floated by President Joe Biden.

Port Authority officials expect a $3 billion loss in revenue over the next two years thanks to collapses in travel. Their $1.3 billion budget for 2021 is 15% lower than what was enacted in 2020.

“Overall, the proposed 2021 budget is an austerity budget,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said in a November statement. “In the absence of federal aid, our $3 billion revenue loss has forced us to slash our capital spending allocation for 2021… That is simply not enough to deliver the rebuilding projects contemplated in our capital plan.”

United Airlines, which uses Newark Airport as one of its main national hubs, said last week that it posted a fourth straight quarterly loss, and plans to cut roughly $2 billion in costs to stay in the air.

They’ve also laid off thousands of employees, many of them in New Jersey, to stay afloat.