United CEO: Flight cuts are needed due to thunderstorms that disrupt Fourth of July travel

United Airlines








Scott Kirby, CEO of the airline, said that without additional gates they will be forced to change or reduce schedules.

Newark, New Jersey hub is able to handle gridlock with ease

A message that followed

mass flight delays

Travel on the Fourth of July holiday weekend was disrupted. Customers who were the most affected by this chaos received 30,000 frequent flyer mile vouchers.

Kirby wrote in a Saturday note to his staff that “this has been the most challenging week I have experienced in my career in terms of operational challenges.”

He stated that Newark Liberty International Airport needs more gates due to the frequent aircraft backups. He added, “We will have to change/reduce our timetable to give us even more spare gate and buffer — particularly during thunderstorm season.” United did not provide any more details on the reduced schedule.

CNBC reported on Friday that Kirby had apologized a day earlier for leaving Teterboro Airport in New Jersey with a private plane while thousands of passengers remained stranded.

Last weekend, a series thunderstorms cut off airspace in the most congested areas of the United States along the East Coast. United’s troubles continued throughout the week. Customers and crew were both angry. United and


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Executives said that air traffic control issues worsened disruptions.

The busy week that followed the difficult one was also one of the most challenging. The Transportation Security Administration reported that it screened nearly 2,89 million people in one day on July 1, surpassing the previous record set on the Sunday following Thanksgiving 2019.

Kirby outlined the problems that have plagued him for a week and stated that long-term change was needed. He claimed that the extensive delays in departures at Newark, which have been piling up since last weekend, had hurt their operation. Some takeoffs from Sunday to Tuesday were delayed up to 75%.

He wrote that “Airlines like United are not designed to have the capacity of their biggest hub severely restricted for four consecutive days while still operating successfully.”

The aircraft and crews then were left out of place, which is something that occurs often during severe weather conditions and can cause a cascade disruption for customers.

The unions have complained that crew members are forced to wait for hours to receive their assignments and to book hotels.

Ken Diaz is the president of United’s chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants. The group represents the cabin crews of the company. Diaz said that in a Friday note to its members, the airline was short of crew schedulers. He claimed that the problems had gotten so bad over the last week that schedulers didn’t know which cities some crews were located in.

Kirby stated that United needs to improve its platforms, so crews are able to get more assignments and accommodations on their app. She said what happened in the last week is not acceptable.

Kirby called on the FAA to invest more in air traffic control and avoid delays. Some of these occurred because hiring and training had been halted during the pandemic.

A United spokeswoman confirmed that the 30,000 miles were sent to customers who had been delayed overnight or did not reach their destination. She refused to reveal how many customers were emailed.

It is possible to redeem the amount for a roundtrip domestic ticket, but the number of miles needed will vary depending on how popular a flight or route is.

FlightAware, a flight tracking service, reports that more than 63,000 U.S. domestic flights were delayed or canceled between June 24 and Sunday. This is nearly three times higher than the rate of cancellations for this year. FlightAware’s data shows that United performed worse than its competitors, with 47% arriving late and 15% cancelled over the period.

On Sunday, thunderstorms in the East Coast caused more than 630 cancellations and 7,650 delays. United Airlines had nearly 900 flights delayed or one third of their operation. Close to 1,000 flights were cancelled.


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Flights delayed by more than 300


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Flights are late. Newark Airport, which is located in the New York City area, was hardest hit.

Thunderstorms can be a major challenge for airlines because they are unpredictable and can happen suddenly. This is unlike hurricanes and winter storms when airlines are able to cancel flights in advance to avoid leaving passengers and crews stranded.