8 hours ago
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It’s just a plane pain.
Delays, cancellations and air-traffic trauma. The plagues have all contributed to the ongoing chaos of flying out of Newark Liberty International Airport.
And, unfortunately, this dreamy wingman says the nightmare is far from over.
“Holy cow, is that a disaster,” griped pilot Pete Cappio, a Big Apple-based aviator and “Bachelorette” alum, of his recent departure from the NYC-area air station.
Offering his 183,000 TikTok viewers a sneak peek at the plane pandemonium, Cappio, 35, shared visuals featuring a cluster of aircraft waiting to take off from Newark’s tarmac.
But smooth sailing out of the airport — 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 (FAA) employee walk-offs.
The ongoing tumult forced the FAA to announce a dramatic cut to the number of flights permitted to come in and out Newark for the next several months.
Luckily for Cappio, endearingly known as “Pilot Pete” online, he made it out by the hairs of his chiseled chin.
“Here’s a live look at how many airplanes I had to wait behind prior to takeoff,” the millennial moaned in his viral vid.
“We were No. 27 for takeoff, and that’s for multiple reasons,” he continued, adding that the “biggest” blockage was a closed runway undergoing reconstruction.
“Every airline has to take off and land on a parallel runway, and it causes a backup bigger than I’ve ever seen before at Newark,” complained Cappio.
“Unbelievable,” he said. “It took us 57 minutes, from push back to takeoff, behind all these airplanes.”
Still, the airman applauded Newark’s remaining air traffic controllers for doing their best under some of the worst conditions.
“Excellent job,” he raved. “Super, super skilled getting airplanes airborne as quickly as possible while dealing with airplanes coming in to land.”
Cappio went on to assure trippers that catching a flight to or from the beleaguered hub is “super safe” — but also advised folks to “expect delays” and “possible cancellations.”
“Crazy, crazy happenings at Newark Airport.”
English (US)