United CEO says ‘almost certainly’ would hit Q2 view high-end if not for Newark

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines (UAL), stated while speaking about issue at Newark airport while presenting at the Bernstein 41st Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, according to a transcript of the event: “When the number of flights goes over the capacity of the airport, it creates operational problems and reliability and issues for customers. And we have finally got a secretary of transportation who who not only understands it, but is willing to do it, has done it, at Newark. And and so what I think this means is Newark is is still gonna have a lot of flights. It’s gonna have slightly fewer than it had before. Actually, it’s probably gonna have the same number. The be spread out over the course of the day, but it’s going to be reliable. My guess is for the balance of the year, Newark will be the most reliable of the New York airports. It’s also less crowded than it will have been. And, unfortunately, at least for this summer, the prices are gonna be cheaper because we took a hit to bookings. So we have more seats open to sell out of Newark. So now is the time if you’re a customer to buy at Newark and come back and try it. Financially, it did have an impact on us… We would have almost certainly come in at the high end of our previous guidance range for 2Q had the Newark issues not have happened, but they did. Probably puts it back squarely in the middle, of the guidance range. Still in the range, of course, in the middle of the guidance range.”