UNITED CEO SCOTT KIRBY: Newark Liberty Airport needs action now

The weeks of continued disruptions astatine Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) has put America’s Air Traffic Control System successful the spotlight and has revealed a breached system. Decades of failing to decently put successful the strategy has prevented good-faith efforts to marque exertion upgrades and bolster the staffing of our nation’s hard-working aerial postulation controllers.

But don’t conflate these challenges and constraints with safety. The information is that each the flights successful and retired of EWR are perfectly safe. When determination are FAA issues -- exertion outages, staffing shortages, etc. -- the FAA requires each airlines to dilatory down craft and/or cancel flights to support the highest levels of safety.

At United, we bash our portion to support information arsenic good by ensuring our pilots person thousands of hours of formation acquisition and supplement that with regular simulator grooming – we besides person procedures that our pilots travel to re-establish connection if controllers suffer vigor interaction to navigate the airplane safely to its destination.

In short, neither the FAA nor United volition ever compromise connected safety.

LAWMAKERS REACT TO NEWARK AIRPORT CHAOS: ‘YOUR FAMILY DESERVES TO KNOW YOU’LL BE SAFE'

But erstwhile the FAA has exertion outages oregon staffing shortages, it leads to delays and cancellations for our customers and that’s the contented we’re determined to solve.

The bully quality is that we are connected the verge of solving this persistent lawsuit hold occupation astatine EWR. All that’s near is the FAA utilizing the authorization -- that lone they person -- to designate EWR arsenic a Level 3 airport.

United CEO Scott Kirby (United Airlines)

President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy person introduced a program to money and execute a semipermanent modernization of our antiquated system. And portion that is simply a immense measurement forward, it volition besides instrumentality clip -- determination are nary short-cuts to overhaul a exertion strategy this vast, analyzable and captious to our economical and nationalist security.

Immediately returning Newark to a Level 3 slot-controlled airdrome is the astir effectual mode to supply alleviation to aerial postulation controllers and present a amended acquisition for customers.

EWR is simply a crown jewel of the portion and an planetary gateway for the U.S.– adjacent to 50 cardinal radical flew done EWR past twelvemonth – but the information is determination are much flights scheduled determination than the FAA tin handle.

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Every different ample capableness constrained airdrome uses slots to marque definite that the fig of scheduled flights successful immoderate fixed hr does not transcend the airport’s maximum capacity. And EWR is the lone ample airdrome successful the satellite that nary longer has this basal common-sense regularisation (in 2016, the FAA de-slotted EWR).

FILE --A formation departs from Newark Liberty International Airport successful Newark, New Jersey, revealing the majestic show of One World Trade Center and the little Manhattan skyline successful the background. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

Even worse, erstwhile you look astatine lawsuit interaction information astatine EWR earlier 2017 erstwhile the airdrome was slotted and comparison it to the years conscionable earlier and aft the pandemic (2017-2019 and 2022-2025), the numbers are *worse* astatine a de-slotted EWR:

• 18% much customers – an other 120,000 radical a twelvemonth – had their formation cancelled
• 17% much customers – an further 1.9 cardinal radical – had an accomplishment delay
• And 43% much customers had an hr hold oregon longer – astir 1 cardinal radical per year

Newark’s aerial postulation controllers bash awesome enactment with professionalism and a heavy absorption connected safety, portion operating immoderate of the astir analyzable airspace successful the world. But they negociate it with exertion developed during World War II and with staffing levels acold beneath what is needed to run astatine afloat capacity.

And again, the president and secretary’s program to modernize the ATC strategy and get EWR ATC afloat staffed is simply a elephantine leap successful the close direction.

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But to marque an interaction astatine EWR that volition beryllium felt today, the FAA indispensable besides instrumentality EWR to a Level 3 slot controlled airport.

It was a mistake to de-slot the airdrome successful 2016 -- each azygous information constituent says truthful -– and we cognize that implementing slots is the contiguous enactment the FAA tin instrumentality to trim congestion determination now.