The total represents nearly a 10% drop from the same period last year, when 368,925 passengers went through security at the airport. The flight decrease appears to have helped Newark rebound after a series of travel issues,

Sadly, Newark is not the exception; it’s a harbinger of all we can expect in years to come. America is experiencing both an aviation safety meltdown and a monopolization crisis. They are combining to make flying both more expensive and more dangerous.

This understaffing exacerbates delays when issues like bad weather or technical outages occur. The FAA prioritizes safety by adjusting flight traffic based on controller availability.

The FAA announced it's cutting the number of flights landing and taking off at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The temporary restrictions are being imposed after repeated flight delays and cancellations. The cap will increase to 68 flights per hour in mid-June.

But smooth sailing out of Newark — deemed a “travel hellhole” by frustrated frequent flyers over the past few weeks — has become virtually impossible. The disarray is largely due to a string of air-traffic control outages, construction issues and Federal Aviation Administration employees walking off the job due to malfunctioning equipment .

According to the New York Post, a blackout on April 28 for air traffic controllers overseeing Newark led to many workers taking trauma leave, exacerbating its staff shortage. In addition, a Newark Airport runway is closed for “rehabilitation work” leaving the airport with only one functioning runway.

A veteran air-traffic controller at the facility that handles flights in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport is calling for more resources and speaking out about the intense pressures workers face amid a staffing shortage and tech outages.

Air traffic control systems at Newark's airport have failed repeatedly. Flight delays and cancellations have mounted, even as the summer travel season kicks off.