CEO of United Airlines says flights from Newark will be ‘cheaper’ ever this summer

General Director of United Airlines Scott Kirby said flights from New Jersey New Jersey International Airport this summer will be cheaper in the history of the airline while the airport recovers from air traffic control interruptions and faces limited capacity with a runway.

Kirby said passengers can expect the highest performance in Newark in comparison to all New York area airports this summer because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reduced the number of arrivals and departures at the airport to help manage delays and securing security. He also said that passengers should expect a large discount given that the carrier lost a lot of bookings.

“There are many more places available, it will be cheaper that will probably be in history,” Kirby said on Thursday at the next event of Wall Street Journal. “I don’t really like that, but you have to reserve, and it will be less crowded,” Kirby said.

Newark is a major center for the carrier as it operates nearly 70% of the airport flights. However, after the interruptions began, the carrier announced that it was cutting 35 rounded flights a day to ensure safety and reliability for flights remaining on schedule.

Since Friday, United said it is flying about 293 flights every day from Newark. It will grow to 380 daily flights after the runway is completed. By comparison, last summer it operated about 400 daily flights.

The chief executive noted that the carrier is facing some short -term pain, but Kirby believes the FAA efforts to ensure that the number of flights is equal to the airport capacity will be useful for the long run.

Since the end of April, Zone C of the Philadelphia Tracon C, the facility that guides flights inside and outside Newark, has undergone several breaks, causing large trips to the second busier to New York Airport system.

The issues also focused on how the air traffic control system has been under an extremely high pressure duet for staff deficiencies, outdated technology and under -investment in critical infrastructure.

Newark’s challenges have been further strained by constant construction at the airport, which leaves it temporarily to operate with one of the two parallel tracks.

Last week, the FAA issued a temporary order by reducing the arrival of the flight and the departure rate at the airport at the 28 arrival and 28 departures per hour until the runway is completed. The daily construction is estimated to be mainly on June 15. From there, the airport will have 34 arrivals and a daily departure until October 25th.

During normal circumstances, Newark usually deals with 77 total flights per hour.

“Our goal is to alleviate significant concern for the traveling public from excessive flight delays in construction, staff challenges and latest equipment issues, which are magnified as they spread through the national airspace system,” FAA administrator Chris Rocheleau said in a statement.