Storms Monday add to staffing shortages, other woes at Newark airport that caused big weekend delays

Newark Liberty International Airport's staffing issues and delays have been exacerbated by bad weather on Monday.

Both Newark and LaGuardia airports had temporary ground stops on Monday morning due to the weather, WABC reported. While the stops were lifted just before 9 a.m., there were still four-hour residual delays.

Newark airport has had flight delays and cancellations for about a week, with United Airlines announcing it would cancel 35 round-trip flights daily, which is about 10% of its flights to that airport, USA Today reported.

"Technology that FAA air traffic controllers rely on to manage the airplanes coming in and out of Newark airport failed – resulting in dozens of diverted flights, hundreds of delayed and canceled flights and worst of all, thousands of customers with disrupted travel plans," United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on Friday in an email to customers.

"Unfortunately, the technology issues were compounded as over 20% of the FAA controllers for (Newark) walked off the job."

Without the controllers, the airport cannot handle the number of planes scheduled to operate in the coming weeks and months.

The airport also has ongoing runway construction, which has limited the airport to just one functioning runway.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is trying to find solutions as the summer travel season is set to begin in a few weeks, including a plan to delay retirement for air traffic controllers and hire more. Agency officials are expected to announce a plan this week for modernizing air traffic control technology.

Meanwhile, the Newark airport has a travel advisory urging passengers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport.