Planes are seen on the tarmac as people wait for their flight reschedule inside of the Newark International Airport on June 27, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. Kena Betancur | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesUnited Airlines’ CEO Scott Kirby said that without more gates the airline will have to reduce or change schedules to handle frequent gridlock at its Newark, New Jersey, hub, a message that came after mass flight delays marred July Fourth holiday weekend travel. The carrier gave 30,000 frequent flyer miles to customers who were most affected by the chaos.”This has been one of the most operationally challenging weeks I’ve experienced in my entire career,” Kirby said in a note to staff on Saturday.He said that the airline needs more gates at Newark Liberty International Airport because of frequent aircraft backups there. “We are going to have to further change/reduce our schedule to give ourselves even more spare gates and buffer — especially during thunderstorm season,” he added. United didn’t provide more detail on the schedule reductions.A day earlier, Kirby apologized for taking a private jet out of New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport while thousands of passengers were stranded, CNBC first reported Friday.Problems began with a series of thunderstorms in some of the country’s most congested airspace along the East Coast last weekend, cutting off routes for aircraft. While most airlines recovered, United’s problem …
