United Airlines is making a bid to regain lost bookings at its Newark Liberty hub by cutting fares for the busy summer travel season. CEO Scott Kirby stated that the airline “lost a lot of bookings” out of Newark, resulting in more seats available.
According to Kirby, flying from Newark will be the cheapest it’s ever going to be. He attributed this to the increased availability of seats due to factors such as a repaving and upgrades of one runway, equipment failures, and a shortage of controllers stationed at the Philadelphia TRACON center.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had previously reduced the maximum hourly number of flights at Newark to 28 arrivals and departures until the reconstruction work on runway is complete. Travel expert Clint Henderson noted that while some passengers may find deals on business class tickets, he wasn’t seeing substantial discounts for Newark flights in his recent searches.
Henderson explained that United will use price cuts as a tool to boost demand and fill planes when demand drops due to concerns about Newark flying. If prices are right, consumers will respond by booking flights into Newark. Kirby emphasized that Newark remains United’s primary hub in the metropolitan area, despite the airport’s ongoing issues.
United has also announced plans to partner with JetBlue to access slots at JFK for up to seven daily round-trip flights starting in 2027. However, Kirby maintains that Newark is safe and will have the highest on-time performance of any New York airport this summer due to FAA changes.
Source: https://www.nj.com/news/2025/05/united-says-it-will-slash-newark-fares-to-win-back-travelers-after-airport-chaos.html