Connecting at Newark: United's shuttle, the AirTrain and security

Last checked 24 September 2026

Is a 45-minute layover enough in Newark?

We estimate about 22% of 45-minute connections at Newark (EWR) ended in a missed connection between September 2025 and August 2026. How we count a missed connection

Allow 90 minutes for a connection in the same terminal at Newark (EWR), or 102 minutes if you change terminal.

Based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection's hourly figures, passport control at Newark (EWR) averaged 18 minutes across its terminals (U.S. citizens 15 minutes, non-U.S. citizens 25; September 2025 to August 2026). That figure leaves out collecting and re-checking bags and the security re-screen, which at large US hubs we estimate add about 30 to 45 minutes.

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United runs Newark's Terminal C and also flies from Terminal A. How a Newark connection goes depends mainly on one thing: are you connecting United-to-United on domestic flights, or doing something else?

At a glance

• United domestic, between A and C: stay behind security and take United's free shuttle. There's no second TSA check.
• United to Terminal B, afternoons and evenings: the shuttle also runs from A and C to B, 1:00–11:00 p.m.
• Everything else between terminals: expect the free AirTrain and TSA screening again.
• Arriving from abroad: clear customs, collect and recheck your bags, then go through security again.

Who flies from where

• Terminal A: United, American, Delta, JetBlue and Air Canada.
• Terminal B: Alaska, Frontier, Lufthansa, SAS and more than 25 other airlines.
• Terminal C: United only.

Lists change, and codeshare partners may fly from a different terminal from the airline that sold you the ticket. Check your boarding pass or the airline's app.

United's shuttle: the connection that stays airside

If you're connecting between two United domestic flights and one leaves from Terminal A and the other from Terminal C, you don't need to leave security. United runs a free shuttle bus for connecting passengers:

The airport's own list doesn't include a C → A route. United has described the shuttle as running between A and C from 4:00 a.m. to midnight. If you're heading from C to A, confirm with United on the day. Passengers already in Terminal B can't use the shuttle to reach A or C.

Changing terminals the other way: AirTrain and security again

For other connections that change terminals, you'll usually leave security and take the AirTrain, which is free between terminals. In the airport's words, "many customers will need to go through TSA screening again".

Terminal A takes an extra step. The AirTrain doesn't stop at the terminal itself, so from the AirTrain station you take a free shuttle bus or walk about 15 minutes along a covered pathway. The bus runs every 5 to 10 minutes from 4:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.

GateCast treats every Newark terminal change as leaving security and clearing it again, and budgets one block of time for the transfer and the second security queue. It doesn't add anything extra for the bus or walk to Terminal A, so allow another 5 to 10 minutes for the shuttle, or about 15 for the walk, if your connection ends there. That's why a Newark terminal change can grade much lower than a United A-to-C connection with the same time on the ticket: GateCast scores United-to-United as staying in one terminal, with no second screening added. The shuttle's own timing and hours aren't modelled yet, so if you're relying on it, check it's running for you.

Arriving from abroad

Follow these steps in order.

1. Everyone arriving from abroad: go through passport control, collect your bags and take them through customs at Newark.
2. If you're connecting to another flight, even a domestic one: recheck your bags.
3. If you're connecting to another flight, even a domestic one: go through security again.

Separate tickets

If you're landing from another country, the steps in "Arriving from abroad" above apply whatever your ticket: on most routes that includes collecting your bags at customs. This section covers what changes when your two flights were booked separately. If your two flights are on separate bookings, you may need to collect your bags, check in again and recheck them. Allow time for a full check-in, and for security if you leave the secure area.

Tips

• Look at both terminal letters on your itinerary before you book. United A-to-C is a very different connection from United-to-Terminal-B at 8:00 a.m.
• The shuttle between A or C and B only runs from 1:00 p.m. Earlier in the day, plan for the AirTrain and security.
• If you're going C → A, check with United that the shuttle is running for you.

How we count a missed connection

The layover times and missed-connection percentages on this page are estimates from our model, built on US DOT records (September 2025 to August 2026), with no guarantee; never book shorter than your airline's minimum connection time.

Each time is our model's point estimate of where the fitted missed-connection curve levels off, from past flights between September 2025 and August 2026. The curve is calculated at 5-minute steps and joined by straight lines. Giving the time to the minute does not make it more certain: when we re-ran the estimate on 200 resampled sets of days, 95% of the times at Newark (EWR) for staying in the same terminal fell between 88 and 92 minutes, and for changing terminal between 99 and 133 minutes.

A missed connection means the real delays and cancellations that day left less time than our estimate of how long the change takes; estimated from US DOT on-time records for September 2025 to August 2026, with no passenger data.

The 45-minute figure is the estimated share of connections at Newark (EWR) that ended in a missed connection. The time in the box is the shortest layover after which another 15 minutes lowers the estimated missed-connection rate by less than 1 percentage point, on a curve fitted so that it never rises. The 1 percentage point is a judgement constant that we set. Extra time helps less and less because cancellations and long delays cause missed connections at any gap. At Newark (EWR), the estimated missed-connection rate was 10.4% at 90 minutes if you stay in the same terminal, and 16.8% at 102 minutes if you change terminal (share of connections, September 2025 to August 2026). An estimated 1% of the 45-minute connections at Newark (EWR) were already shorter than our estimate of the change on the schedule. We don't give a figure for 30 minutes. A 30-minute connection is about as long as our own estimate of the change (typically 26 to 31 minutes at one terminal) and often shorter, so a percentage would mostly come from that estimate.

The passport-control figure is our average of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's hourly averages at Newark (EWR), weighted by passengers, for flights arriving between September 2025 and August 2026 (CBP Airport Wait Times, awt.cbp.gov, downloaded 22 October 2026). CBP says its wait times "do not include time to retrieve baggage or navigate through the airport." The 30 to 45 minutes for bags and the security re-screen is our rough estimate for large US hubs, based on airlines' stated savings of up to 25 minutes for bag transfer and up to 45 minutes for skipping the re-screen in their international-connection trials, and on traveller reports; actual times vary widely and we have no figure for Newark (EWR) alone.

Checked 24 September 2026; layover figures checked 23 October 2026; passport-control figures checked 22 October 2026. Shuttle routes and hours change, so confirm with United and the airport before you travel.

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