JetBlue, Spirit cancellations draws criticism from United CEO: Travel Weekly
United CEO Scott Kirby lashed out at JetBlue and Spirit airlines for their operations at Newark Airport, which he said has resulted in double-digit cancellation rates on flights from the airport in April.
Kirby is also taking on the FAA, accusing the agency of not enforcing its own rules at the capacity-constrained airport, where flight operations, he said, are supposed to be limited to 79 per hour.
Speaking on the company’s earnings call on Thursday, Kirby said, “It’s unheard of behavior for me for the FAA to just let people break — brazenly break — the rules. The two biggest offenders are Spirit Airlines and JetBlue.”
• Related: JetBlue reducing summer schedule by 10%
Kirby’s remarks came in response to a reporter’s questions about potential capacity challenges at Newark this summer. His direct, public criticism of other carriers is unusual for a U.S. airline CEO, especially within the formal atmosphere of a quarterly earnings call.
The FAA responded to a request for comment on Kirby’s allegations by pointing to its website, which states that Newark Airport has a potential for congestion during busy periods of the day. The issue, the site says, “can be managed through mutual cooperation of the carriers.”
FlightAware data reviewed by Travel Weekly shows that Spirit canceled 19% of its scheduled Newark departures during the first 20 days of April, while JetBlue canceled 11% of scheduled flights. United canceled 2.2% of its Newark flights during those same days.
Kirby offered higher figures, saying that combined the two carriers have canceled more than 20% of all flights out of Newark this month. He did not specify exactly which rules he believes those carriers are violating at the airport other than to say they are flying more flights than the airport can handle.
“I mean, it’s awful for their employees. It’s awful for their customers,” Kirby said. “Unfortunately, our employees and our customers are collateral damage to that. It is time for the FAA to enforce their own rules. It’s bad for consumers, it’s terrible for consumers – what is being allowed to happen at Newark.”
JetBlue responds
JetBlue stated that in the first quarter of this year it accounted for just 7% of outbound flights from Newark.
“All
carriers at Newark, including those with vast regional operations, are
affected by the same operational constraints and regional complexities
of New York airspace,” the carrier said in what appeared to be a thinly
veiled reference to United, Newark’s largest carrier by far. “JetBlue
abides by federal FAA guidelines at Newark and has made schedule
adjustments in response to FAA requests.”
• Related: DOT taking bids for low-cast carrier slots at Newark
In its statement, JetBlue appeared to suggest the Kirby’s remarks were geared toward protecting United’s dominant stake in Newark, where it operated 69.8% of departures in 2019, according to DOT data.
“Legacy carriers continue to take aim at low-cost carriers, which are striving to introduce more affordable fares and needed competition in their fortress hubs,” JetBlue said. “A federal court ruled last year that the presence of additional competitors at Newark, for example, could reduce fares by as much as 45% on some routes.”
Spirit did not respond to a request for comment.
The DOT is in the process of choosing which low-cost carrier it will award the rights for 16 additional daily Newark operations, a move taken by the department following the 2021 court ruling referenced by JetBlue.
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