After a series of air traffic control outages, short staffing, and runway construction caused repeated days of delays and cancelations at Newark Liberty International Airport it’ll be the cheapest summer to fly there in United Airlines’ history, according to the airline’s CEO.
“Because we lost a lot of bookings, there’s a lot more seats available,” Scott Kirby, United Airlines CEO said at the Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything event Thursday. “It’s going to be the cheapest it’s probably ever going to be in history. I don’t really like that, but you ought to book and it’s going to be the least crowded.”
The slashed summer airfares come after a difficult month for the New Jersey airport that endured a slew of air traffic control issues caused by short staffing and major outages of the antiquated Federal Aviation Administration infrastructure, all while a runway is closed for construction.
Despite the challenges, Kirby reiterated the airport is safe and encouraged travelers to book flights.
On Wednesday, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said a new fiberoptic cable laid between Philadelphia and New York will improve the reliability of the air traffic control facility handling flights in and out of Newark. The Department of Transportation hopes the cable will be operational by July.
Kirby was an advocate for slot controls at the airport, noting the airport was unable to accommodate the number of flights he and his competitors had scheduled. Last week, the FAA announced it was cutting 25% of flights each day to put a band aid on the situation while runway construction continues.
“This is short term, painful for us at Newark, but it’s long term better, because the FAA is going to do what they do at JFK and LaGuardia, which is, manage the number of flights to be equal to the capacity of the airport,” Kirby said Thursday.
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