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Travel Weekly

Newark Airport delays have travelers considering other airports

Rick Ardis, owner of Ardis Travel in East Rutherford, N.J., had been scheduled to fly on May 21 from Newark to Denver and on to Salt Lake City to attend the ASTA Travel Advisor Conference. Rick Ardis But knowing that United is implementing most of its Newark flight cuts on routes that have several frequencies per day, like Newark-Denver, Ardis decided to change his itinerary. Instead of flying out of Newark, the veteran advisor drove 78 miles west, to Lehigh Valley Airport in Allentown, Pa., from where he could travel on United to Salt Lake City via a stop at Chicago O'Hare. Ardis made a good call. He said United ended up canceling the Newark-Denver flight on his original itinerary. Across much of New Jersey, travel advisors are fielding plenty of questions from concerned clients about Newark Airport, where recent operational cutbacks, cancellations, delays and air traffic control technology failures have been a topic of conversation at office watercoolers and children's sporting events. "I have had quite a few people asking about it," said Parri Mahan, a Freehold, N.J.-based independent travel advisor who is part of the Envoyage host agency network. "I think we're all really monitoring it." Ardis' decision notwithstanding, agents say that in large measure, their clients are staying with Newark since alternatives such as LaGuardia, JFK and Philadelphia tend to be too inconvenient. "People don't want the traffic," said Melissa Sanchez, owner of Spellbound Vacations in Rochelle Park, N.J. "When people start thinking of the convenience of Newark, they decide, 'Let's stick it out.'" An April 28 air traffic control outage at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control -- a facility that directs approaches into Newark -- caused several controllers to take trauma leave. And in the weeks that followed, operations in and out of Newark were chaotic, including high numbers of cancellations and frequent, long delays. Newark operations had stabilized significantly by mid-May, largely as a result of schedule cutbacks. United, Newark's dominant carrier, led the way, voluntarily implementing a schedule cutback of 35 operations per day beginning May 2. Then on May 20, the FAA imposed a cap of 28 arrivals and 28 departures per hour in Newark and required all domestic operators there to trim schedules. The cap will last until June 15, when daily construction on one of Newark's three runways will transition to Saturday-only work. At that time, the cap will be increased to 34 arrivals and 34 departures per hour, except on Saturdays. Prior to construction, Newark allowed approximately 40 landings and 40 departures per hour. For flyers, schedule trimming should provide protection from last-second flight changes. But flights that have already been booked or are booked well ahead of travel could be subject to early cancellations. Based on how United has changed its Newark schedule over the past few weeks, transatlantic flights are unlikely to be trimmed. The large majority of United's schedule cuts have been made on domestic routes with at least three daily frequencies, OAG data shows. Parri Mahan Possessing such information is one way that travel advisors have been able to assist clients. Mahan said that she recently fielded concerns from clients who are slated to fly from Newark to Nice, France in September for a cruise and then back to Newark from Zurich. She sought to assuage their concerns by explaining that airlines haven't been canceling their Newark-to-Europe flights. For extra measure, she provided information on EU rules that mandate airlines to pay compensation in cases of flight cancellations or long delays. Advisors are also easing the pain for clients when Newark flights are cut. Ardis said that when a client's flight to Buffalo was canceled, United automatically rebooked her on a one-stop itinerary through Washington Dulles. But Ardis interceded and got the client moved to a nonstop four hours earlier as well as an upgrade to first class and a travel credit. Sally Jane Smith Still, calls from concerned clients keep coming to New Jersey-based advisors. Sally Jane Smith, owner of TravelSmiths in Point Pleasant, N.J., queried her 23 agents on May 20. Several said they had fielded recent calls asking about itinerary changes away from Newark. Ultimately, those clients decided to stick with the airport. "My team has been tracking this constantly, so they were definitely proactive," Smith said. Nevertheless, some flyers are switching away from Newark. Peter Vlitas, executive vice president of partner relations for Internova Travel Group, said the agency has seen a trend of flyers looking for other airports, especially clients who have significant time constraints. Melissa Sanchez Sanchez said she has a client booked on a Newark flight in mid-June who is watching for United to extend its Newark travel waiver so he can change to a different airport. And Smith said she rebooked two client groups headed to Cancun for departure from Philadelphia soon after the Newark problems began. "They just didn't want the hassle," she said.