Flight operations at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) had a major turnaround this summer, according to United Airlines.
The carrier, which operates its second-largest hub at EWR, released new numbers showing it had its best-ever operational summer at the airport. More than 6 million people flew on-time with United out of Newark this summer, according to the carrier, which is the most in the airline’s history.
The carrier also says that its flights out of Newark arrived on time more often over the summer than flights with other airlines operating out of other New York-area airports like JFK or LaGuardia (LGA).
The East Coast hub had faced several operational challenges in the spring, including air traffic control radar and communication outages, controller short-staffing, and runway construction, all of which coalesced in early May to create weeks of chaotic flight disruptions. United Airlines operates more flights to and from Newark than any other carrier, so it was uniquely affected by the operational challenges.
To mitigate the issues, the FAA implemented limits on the number of flights allowed to take off and land at Newark each hour. Those caps are still in place and stand at 34 takeoffs and 34 landings per hour—that’s nine fewer takeoffs and nine fewer landings than what was allowed each hour before the limits. Caps will remain in place tentatively through next summer, according to United.
The flight caps, along with some air traffic control technology fixes, hiring initiatives, and the wrap-up of runway construction, helped Newark to get its operations back on track for the rest of the summer.
“Newark is operating better than ever and United’s future here is bright – that’s a credit to the thousands of Newark employees who deliver for our customers and one another every day,” said Scott Kirby, United’s CEO. “I want to also thank Secretary Duffy, FAA Administrator Bedford, Governor Murphy and all the national, state and local leaders who helped ensure that Newark remains a safe and reliable crown jewel for millions of domestic and international travelers. As the FAA and DOT implement their plan of increased staffing and improved technology, the reliability and on-time performance of Newark will only get better.”
United will also continue to increase its staffing at Newark, with plans to hire more than 2,500 additional employees at the hub through 2026. The airline says that it plans to serve more than 160 domestic and international destinations this fall out of Newark, which is its primary transatlantic gateway.
The airline will add more flights on international routes from EWR to popular destinations like Rome, Venice, Porto, Marrakesh, and Dublin, and launch new domestic routes to Palm Springs, California, Columbia, South Carolina, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Next summer, United says it will bring back its new service from Newark to Nuuk, Greenland.
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