Newark Airport’s fortunes appear to have dramatically reversed, with United Airlines claiming that it’s now the most on-time large airport in the US.
The airport, United’s largest hub, has recently faced a perfect storm of issues that have led to extreme delays and flight cancellations for passengers.
The problems have included air traffic controllers experiencing communication blackouts while directing planes, air traffic control staff walking out, exacerbating a staffing shortage, and one of the three runways, 11,000-foot-long 4L-22R, being shut while undergoing a $121 million repair.
The shortage of air traffic controlers is an issue that is still being addressed, but United, citing data from aviation analytics company masFlight, claims that since the work was completed on 4L-22R on June 2, Newark “isn’t just the most on-time New York-area airport, it is the most on-time among the 15 largest U.S. airports”.
United says that almost 84 percent of Newark flights have arrived within 14 minutes of schedule, “better than any other of the largest 15 airports in the US”.
The airline continued in a statement: “Despite severe weather along the East Coast this week, United Newark flights continued to have a higher completion percentage than any other New York area airport, a title held since June 2.
“As travelers prepare for the July 4 holiday, they can travel to, through and from Newark with confidence all summer long.”
For the Fourth of July period, United expects to fly an average of 560,000 people every day and operate 4,800 flights per day, an average of more than three take-offs every minute.
June 27 and July 3 will be the busiest travel days, the airline projects, with about 580,000 passengers each day.
Part of United’s preparation for the peak summer travel season is an array of new features on its app that the airline says will help passengers make their connections.
Customers with connecting flights at United’s US hub airports can now access a special section of the app that includes a countdown to connecting flights, customized turn-by-turn directions to their connecting gate with estimated walk times, real-time flight status updates, tips for longer layovers, and notifications if a connecting plane can be held.
United claims that during a beta test period this spring, more than 350,000 customers used the new features, achieving a 98 percent success rate in making their connections.
“We know that giving people more information, in a transparent and easy-to-understand way, can help de-stress the connecting flight experience,” said David Kinzelman, United’s Chief Customer Officer.
“Our award-winning mobile app is a game-changer during travel, and with these new features, our customers will have even more real-time details about their flight and, as a result, have an even better experience flying United.”