United Airlines Holdings Inc. will have to change, and possibly reduce, its flight schedule at Newark Liberty International Airport while work is under way to expand the number of gates for the carrier, Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby said in a letter to employees.
The letter on Saturday follows days of extensive flight disruptions as airlines across the U.S. dealt with severe weather and operational challenges ahead of Independence Day. Newark, which is United’s largest hub, was one of the hardest hit, with thousands of flights delayed and canceled this week.
The Chicago-based carrier “has never seen an extended limited operating environment like the one we saw this past week at Newark,” Kirby wrote.
The days of heavy travel leading to July 4 will test whether airports have made sufficient changes after staffing shortages strained flight schedules last year. More than 4 million Americans are expected to fly over Independence Day weekend — a record for air travel over the holiday — surpassing 2019 by 6.6%, according to AAA, which tracks travel habits.
In the letter to employees, Kirby said he talked with the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg this week about challenges the airline faces, including FAA staffing shortages. The airline, alongside JetBlue Airways Corp., had previously claimed the FAA is partly responsible for the hiccups around some of the busiest airports, including New York and Denver, this past week.
United must “balance departures and arrivals” at Newark to prevent lines and gridlock that occur because of insufficient aircraft space, he said. The company will also transition to self-service, online crew scheduling, he said.
Kirby has faced backlash for taking a private jet to Denver from New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport on Wednesday as the airline’s customers dealt with remarkable flight disruptions. The CEO called the decision to fly private the “wrong decisions” and insensitive to customers.
