United Airlines Cuts 35 Daily Flights From Newark Liberty Over FAA Challenges

United Airlines is cutting 35 flights a day from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) because of “long-simmering FAA challenges” that are causing chaos at the airport, CEO Scott Kirby announced on Friday.

“United is committed to doing absolutely everything in our power to minimize the impact that this will have on customers, and so we are unilaterally canceling 35 roundtrip flights per day from our Newark schedule starting this weekend,” Kirby said in a message to United flyers on Friday.

The announcement came in the middle of days of disruptions at Newark Liberty—according to FlightAware, more than 200 departures and another 200 arrivals were delayed each day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—due to staffing shortages at air traffic control, runway construction, and equipment issues.

“It’s disappointing to make further cuts to an already reduced schedule at Newark, but since there is no way to resolve the near-term structural FAA staffing issues, we feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers,” he added.

Newark has long been one of United’s hubs, and the cuts announced by Kirby will drop United’s schedule at the airport by about 10%. The only way to solve the issue in the medium to long term is through “a large, systemwide investment in FAA technology, infrastructure, and staffing,” Kirby said.

That is something U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has committed to—Duffy has announced bonuses, salary increases, and better benefits to attract and retain more air traffic controllers, along with a plan, expected this week, to “build an all-new air traffic control system,” a significant investment for the FAA.

“We’re gonna lay fiber, we’re gonna get new radar, new radios, new ground sensors,” Duffy said late last week.

In the short term, Kirby is pushing the government to recategorize Newark as a slot-controlled, Level 3 airport. Right now, without that designation, the FAA can still limit flights at Newark through its congestion management system.

“Newark is an incredible airport and takes our customers to 76 different US cities and 81 international destinations…By using the authority it has, the FAA can help Newark fulfill its incredible potential to be a safe, reliable and efficient gateway to the world for the American traveling public,” Kirby added.