Four months after a meltdown at Newark Liberty Airport caused lengthy delays and cancellations — the result of issues beyond the control of United Airlines — CEO Scott Kirby was in Newark to discuss something worth celebrating: The airline’s on-time performance.
This summer, United had its best operational summer ever in Newark, putting the airport on par with JFK and LaGuardia for on-time performance. In fact, United flights out of Newark arrived on-time more often this summer than flights operated by airlines out of JFK or LGA.
These rankings come as more than six million people flew United on-time through Newark this summer, the most in the airline’s history. In addition, United’s Connection Saver technology helped more than 28,000 customers make tight connections in Newark this summer.
Calling it a turnaround seems like an understatement.
Of course, Kirby didn’t mind — anything other than ‘meltdown’ certainly was appreciated. That was the best way to describe last spring, when air traffic control staffing issues, technology infrastructure problems and runway closures helped the airport make national news in ways no airport wants to do so.
“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,” he said.
Kirby, who has never been shy about calling out those whose efforts seemingly do more harm than good, had nothing but praise for a few key officials, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford and Gov. Phil 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.”
Kirby said he has confidence moving forward.
“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,” he said.
Many are contributing to that aim. Among the efforts:
- Runway construction was completed two weeks early on June 2;
- In July, the FAA installed a new fiber optic network to support the air traffic control system.
Bedford said more action is coming.
“We’re building a brand-new air traffic control system, and we started by addressing the challenges of outdated technology at Newark,” he said. “This summer, the FAA took immediate action to relieve substantial inconveniences to the traveling public — deploying a temporary satellite backup system, upgrading fiberoptic technology, expanding high-bandwidth telecommunications, increasing controller staffing, and limiting arrivals and departures.
“Through strong partnerships with the Port Authority and United, we made significant progress this summer.”
United officials said they are doing their part to invest more in Newark as a center of international travel, announcing:
- Nuuk Greenland, United’s most talked about 2025 destination, will return to Newark for summer 2026 following a successful and enthusiastic first season;
- This summer, EWR had more international departures (over 20,000) and more departures to Europe (more than 8,200) than any other United hub;
- This summer, United served 82 international destinations, including all 32 of its European destinations.
Looking ahead to this fall and winter, United plans to serve more than 160 domestic and international destinations from EWR — more than any other airline in the New York City area — adding flights to popular cities like Rome, Venice, Porto, Marrakesh and Dublin.
Domestically, the airline will add flights to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale and new cities including Palm Springs, California; Columbia, South Carolina; and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The impact of all of this can be felt on the ground, too, United officials said.
United employs more than 14,000 people in the region, including more than 3,000 pilots at its pilot base and more than 5,700 flight attendants. And it is looking to hire another 2,500 employees before the end of 2026.
Looking ahead to this fall and winter, United plans to serve more than 160 domestic and international destinations from EWR — more than any other airline in the New York City area — adding flights to popular cities like Rome, Venice, Porto, Marrakesh and Dublin. Domestically, the airline will add flights to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale and new cities including Palm Springs, California; Columbia, South Carolina; and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Murphy, who was anything but pleased this spring, had plenty of praise.
“Over the past several months, we have worked diligently with our partners at the Port Authority and the FAA to move towards a return to full capacity at Newark Airport, and I am pleased with our progress,” he said. “United’s continued investment in Newark Airport will serve as a significant economic driver for our region, creating thousands of new jobs for New Jersey communities. I thank United CEO Scott Kirby for his partnership in supporting our region’s world-class transportation infrastructure.”
