Latest news with #Newark
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Newark Airport Port Authority cops rescue child, 2, lost riding luggage conveyor belt into bowels of the terminal
A pair of Port Authority cops jumped onto a luggage conveyor belt at Newark Airport to rescue a 2-year-old child who took an impromptu ride into the bowels of the terminal, officials said Saturday. The tot was with their mother trying to re-book a flight at the JetBlue ticket counter at Newark's Terminal A at about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday when the child walked behind the kiosk and stepped onto the ankle-high conveyor belt where people on departing flights drop off their luggage. The conveyor belt immediately whisked the child behind the wall and down a switchback labyrinth of belts moving bags throughout the terminal. A JetBlue employee flagged down Port Authority Police Officers Angel Paulino and Joe DeSilvio, who, instead of finding a door that could take them into the back of the building, decided to jump on the conveyor belt and follow the child. Navigating the building's system of conveyor belts, the officers 'located the uninjured child in the checked baggage room on the lower level,' a Port Authority spokeswoman said. It took about four minutes for the officers to find the child, a Port Authority source with knowledge of the case said. The child was about to be rolled through the luggage X-ray machine when they grabbed the tot. EMS was requested to the terminal as a precaution, but the child and their mother were not harmed, officials said. An email to JetBlue for comment was not immediately returned.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
United CEO urges flyers to buy tickets now
Published: | United Airline's CEO, Scott Kirby, is urging customers to snap up some of the cheapest flights he's seen from an iconic destination. After tarmac construction delays, several well-documented traffic control outages , and a wave of cancellations, travelers have been avoiding Newark International Airport. That chaos has unexpectedly created what Kirby is calling an affordable window to fly into the airport. 'Because we lost a lot of bookings, there's a lot more seats available,' Kirby said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal . 'It's going to be the cheapest it's probably ever going to be in history.' Newark Airport, one of United's major US hubs, has quickly responded to safety concerns. Airlines have cut back on their Newark-bound offerings and the US Department of Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, said officials are updating equipment to minimize risk . Completion of a new communications line is expected by July. In the meantime, Kirby and Duffy have both said it is safe to fly into Newark. 'Newark is safe,' Kirby said, while calling the customer hesitance a 'perception issue.' United has cut back on 35 daily scheduled flights into its hub to help quell the traffic. Last week, a Cessna descended into a San Diego neighborhood, killing six . Safety issues and continued drops in consumer economic sentiment have become a toxic mix for major airlines. Some of the biggest companies — including United, American, Delta, and Southwest — all expected booming sales in 2025. Still, the company believes it will turn a profit this year. It confirmed its strong business with a quirky twist on a traditional financial outlook. The airliner reported two potential forecasts for the rest of 2025. One potential earnings forecast shows the company's finances if the US avoids a recession, while the other one shows the profit if the economy continues to contract.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
United's CEO proclaims the budget airline model is dead and argues they ‘screw the customer'
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on Thursday the budget airline model is dead, adding that these 'crappy' models 'screw the customer.' Kirby's interview was on the same day, however, as the announcement of a partnership between United and JetBlue, which many consider to be a budget airline. All eyes have been on airlines recently as problems with antiquated air traffic control systems have led to mass delays and cancellations—particularly at Newark Liberty International Airport. But a silver lining for air travel customers this summer is that the cost to fly is likely to be 'the cheapest it's probably ever going to be in history,' United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in an interview at a Wall Street Journal conference this week. That's because so many customers have canceled their flights out of fear of further delays and cancellations that there will be more seats available. 'I don't really like that, but you ought to book,' Kirby said. 'This is short-term painful for us at Newark, but it's long-term better because the FAA is going to do what they do at JFK, LaGuardia, which is manage the number of flights to be equal to the capacity of the airport.' But just because United flights might be cheaper temporarily doesn't knock them down to a budget airline. In fact, Kirby during the same interview dissed low-cost airlines, calling them a 'crappy model' that was designed to 'screw the customer.' 'It was like, trick people, get them to buy, and get them to come, and then charge them a whole bunch of fees that they aren't expecting,' Kirby said. 'Their problem is they got big enough that they needed repeat customers. They don't get them.' The model 'is dead,' he added. But budget airlines don't see it that way. 'With the New Frontier, we offer a free carry-on bag, free changes, and free seat assignments in our economy product,' Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle told Fortune. 'He must be referring to other carriers.' Frontier is typically considered a budget airline, along with Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air, Ryanair, and Breeze Airways. Those airlines didn't respond to Fortune's request for comment in response to Kirby's allegations. Some consumers also consider JetBlue to be a budget airline, and coincidentally, Kirby's interview with WSJ happened to be on the same day United announced a partnership with JetBlue. The deal—called Blue Sky—allows passengers to earn and spend frequent flyer miles between the two airlines. It will also eventually let each carrier's elite frequent flyers to get reciprocal benefits and other business perks. The partnership is subject to regulatory review, but it could start as soon as this fall. And budget airlines are far from the only offenders when it comes to tacking on extra fees and charges. Consumer advocates have long criticized the 'unbundling' by which airlines, including United, have started charging to check bags, eat on the flight, and other amenities that used to be part of the ticket price. United Airlines didn't respond to Fortune's request for comment about whether Kirby's assertions about budget airlines conflicted with their JetBlue partnership. Kirby insisted during his WSJ interview, though, JetBlue isn't the typical budget airline model. 'JetBlue is not that at all,' Kirby said, calling the airline a poster child for customer satisfaction. He used the example of how JetBlue first put live televisions in its aircrafts. Kirby admittedly thought it was a gimmick at first, he said, but when he saw more than 20 people on his JetBlue flight watching TV, he changed his mind. He thought, 'holy cow, they got this right, and it was literally a turning point for me,' Kirby said. 'JetBlue is founded in trying to be a better airline for customers. The budget airlines were founded in trying to have the absolute bare bones lowest cost. They may both be startups, [but have] two polar-opposite business models.' This story was originally featured on
CNN
19 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Newark airport's closed runway, which contributed to weeks of delays, will reopen ahead of schedule
A key runway at Newark Liberty International Airport, which has been under construction for months causing significant delays and cancellations, will reopen on Monday. The 11,000-foot-long runway 4L-22R is reopening 13 days ahead of schedule and will allow 'regular runway operations to resume,' according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which operates the airport. The $121 million project began in early March and was scheduled to be completed June 15. The runway was last rehabilitated in 2014 and showed 'significant signs of wear.' Construction was accelerated after staffing and operational challenges 'impacted air traffic controllers' ability to effectively use the remaining two operational runways' at the airport, according to the port authority. 'As we approach the busy summer travel season, this key milestone puts us on a path to further reducing congestion, enhancing safety, and ensuring a seamless travel experience,' Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a news release. 'With the runway completed, we'll continue our work to harden the telecoms infrastructure and improving the staffing pipeline for the airspace.' The runway was one of the reasons passengers flying in and out of Newark airport experienced major disruptions in April and May, but it was not the only reason. Controllers attempting to guide pilots to and from the airport experienced at least four black outs since April 28 due to the aging Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control system. On May 20, the FAA ordered airlines to cut flights at Newark by about 25%, to 56 an hour, until construction was completed, at which point they plan to increase flights to 68 an hour. The construction project involves paving the runway surface, updating lighting, improving airfield signs, installing underground electrical infrastructure, and improving drainage. The runway will still close for construction on weeknights through the end of the year and weekends, September to December, to complete the project entirely.
CBS News
21 hours ago
- Business
- CBS News
American, Delta and United charging higher rates for solo flight tickets, writer finds
A Minneapolis-based aviation writer says he's uncovered an airline pricing strategy that makes tickets for solo travelers more expensive. Kyle Potter, executive editor at Thrifty Traveler, says he discovered the practice as he went to buy a ticket for a flight himself. "I saw a $206 one-way fare to Newark this summer," Potter said. "I bumped it up to two passengers, then all of a sudden, I'm looking at $156 for the same fare." Potter ran more tests and found that Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines all were doing the same thing. Solo tickets cost more than tickets bought in a group for the same flight. "You start doing some math, double checking, 'What's going on here? Did I enter the wrong airport code? Did I change the date on accident?' It became pretty clear, quickly, this was a penalty for booking just one ticket," he said. "This isn't an isolated incident. This is a trend. This is something that airlines are doing in order to squeeze more money out of people who are booking just one passenger." Potter posted his findings online in a post that's now been shared thousands of times and viewed by millions of online users. He suspects airlines of charging higher rates for solo travelers to increase costs for business fliers who would typically expense the price of the ticket. WCCO has reached out for comment to Delta, American and United, with Delta being the only airline to respond so far. In an email, a Delta spokesperson said the company is "limited in what it can say about pricing," though they said "this pricing structure is not new to Delta or the airline industry." Potter said after his interview with WCCO that an insider tipped him off that Delta's policy would be reversing course. Higher prices for solo tickets remain for the other two airlines. "It feels like a game of cat and mouse. Every time we find something out, weeks, months later, there's some new system, trick, to push you into a more expensive fare, or hide a cheaper fare from you," Potter said. "I think there just needs to be more accountability – and I don't know if that's something individual travelers can achieve."
