United Airlines will voluntarily cut about 50 daily departures at Newark Liberty International Airport next month, viewing the move as necessary to relive congestion and improve on-time performance.
United Airlines Voluntarily Reduces Schedule At Newark To Minimize Congestion
Despite strong demand and sufficient aircraft and flight crews, United Airlines will cut about 50 flights per day starting in July. Here’s what we know so far:
- Schedule change is effective July 1, 2022
- The ~50 departures which are impacted are domestic flights only
- The flight cancellations represent about 12% of United’s Newark schedule
- Only frequency reductions will take place, no market or route suspensions
In a memo to employees by Jon Roitman, United’s Chief Operations Officer, makes clear the schedule reductions are not due to staffing shortages, but due to a desire to reduce excessive delays.
Even though we have the planes, pilots, crews, and staff to support our Newark schedule, this waiver will allow us to remove about 50 daily departures which should help minimize excessive delays and improve on-time performance – not only for our customers, but for everyone flying through Newark.
Live and Let’s Fly has reached out to United to ask if the schedule reductions will result in upgrades to larger aircraft on other frequencies and how the 12% reduction in flights will impact the overall availability of seats from Newark. When we hear back, we will update this story.
United is now reaching out to impacted passengers and offering them alternate routing options. Without offsetting the flight reductions with more seats via larger aircraft, the reduction in flights from Newark will theoretically push up flights costs even more on the planes that do operate. United does not plan schedule changes at its other hubs this summer.
CONCLUSION
As long as the weather cooperates, all passengers departing from Newark Airport can expect a smoother experience next month with United eliminating 50 daily domestic flights from its schedule. However, don’t expect this change to be permanent. Roitman hopes to revert to a full scheduled as soon as possible and is now calling upon others carriers to follow its lead.
Travel demand in Newark has never been stronger and we will continue to partner with the FAA and Port Authority so we can reinstate these 50 daily departures and revert to a full schedule from Newark as soon as possible. In the interim, all carriers – not just United – need to continue to work with the FAA to mitigate Newark congestion.
This mess in EWR (and LGA/JFK) has been created by the Port Authority with the FAA allowing it to happen. Port Authority leadership has been asleep at the wheel for years well before covid and now here we are.
let’s just hope they get the Hudson River tunnel project done before one or both collapse and cause massive gridlock for all of the northeast
EWR needs to be slot restricted again.
Jetblue and Spirit are at fault!
@ Matthew — “which should help maximize revenue”
have the changes already been made or they are in the process?
I believe schedules will be updated this weekend.
yikes, OK thank you…that’s cutting it close for 7/1 changes.
Total BS! They are short-staffed and trying to look like they are trying to relieve congestion at EWR .
It’s not hard, just fly bigger planes into EWR. There are still a few daily 757s flying from LAX and SFO into EWR, those routes should be exclusively widebody. Maybe instead of having 7 daily LHR flights with a low density 767 put a 777 on the route?
United now has a ton of widebodies with the 777s returning, way more than AA or DL have, they need to get creative with them.
Shame we don’t have a president who will lead.
prez doesn’t run the airlines numbnuts
Yea, if only we had a visionary for a president like Trump who could start his own airline. That surely would be more efficient than our current options and always be profitable. He could call it Trump Shuttle
Trump was a way better president than Brandon.
On January 6th:
1) Gas was $1.93 per gallon.
2) No inflation
3) Supply chain was functioning well
4) Economy was the strongest in 50 years
5) Border was controlled and secure
6) Taliban wasn’t armed with US artillery
7) Plenty of workers to fulfill labor needs
8) Stock market and 401k’s at record highs
9) Interest rates at record lows
Yes let’s all pick arbitrary dates when geopolitical circumstances were different and write lists. You know gas was only 29c under Truman?
not an arbitrary date.. it’s the date the dems will be talking about until the end of time.
I flew Ewr-Atl on the morning of June14th, a Tuesday some clouds but no precipitation. Gate pulled from aircraft at 10:02am, pushback from gate at 10:35am due to congestion behind us at c114 from line to takeoff runway 4R.
When we lifted off I counted 27 aircraft waiting to depart on a single runway. Too many flights scheduled for too little runway capacity.