United Airlines says now's the time to book cheap Europe flights from Newark
During a Monday news conference with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and other officials announcing the early reopening of one of the airport's major runways, Kirby acknowledged that bookings to and from Newark have been soft because of its recent turn in the bad news spotlight, and he said the airline is compensating for that with lower prices to spur demand.
"We did get well behind on bookings because of the perception issues around Newark recently, so that means more seats are available, which means the fares are better than they're probably going to ever be in the years to come, so now's the time to book your vacation if you want to go to Europe or you want to head across the country," he said.
Still, Kirby doesn't seem to believe that customers should be motivated by price alone when choosing who they fly with. At an event hosted by The Wall Street Journal in May, Kirby said he thinks the ultra-low cost airline model has turned passengers off.
Frequent flyer win?: United and JetBlue plan to share miles and status benefits
"It's a crappy model," he said. "The model was screw the customer. Trick people, get them to buy, get them to come, and charge them a whole bunch of fees they aren't expecting."
Instead, he suggested, travelers prefer ticket prices that are more clear about what they do and don't include, and aren't necessarily tempted by low prices alone anymore.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: United Airlines CEO: Newark will have great flight deals this summer
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