Spirit Airlines, a low-cost carrier, has been granted the opportunity to expand at Newark Airport. This is in response to complaints by United Airlines that Spirit and its competitors are slowing down operations.
According to the US Department of Transportation, Spirit will have 16 peak hour opportunities to land or take off at Newark Liberty International Airport.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the airport can accommodate 79 departures and arrivals per hour.
Spirit was competing with JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines for some or all of these spots.
Spirit spokesperson Erik Hofmeyer stated that they were pleased with the conclusion of the process and will continue to promote competition and provide affordable, high-value travel options to guests who travel in and out New York Metropolitan area.” He told CNN.
Worst cancellation rate
According to Bureau of Transportation Statistics figures, Newark Airport has one of the highest cancellation rates of all major airports.
Spirit, United and other groups have been fighting over who is to be blamed and how federal officials should respond.
United uses Newark to be a key hub, and it is the dominant airline there. Spirit reports that United consumes 70% of runway timings.
United recently announced that it would be removing 50 flights daily from its schedule in order to alleviate pressure at the airport. However, it intends to eventually resume its full schedule. United does not have to abandon Newark spots in the announcement.
“A crisis at EWR”
According to federal data, JetBlue is the second largest carrier and carries about 11% of Newark passengers. Spirit currently transports about 7% of passengers.
Spirit has increased its flights to and from Newark, but it stated that it was still using spots that international airlines had stopped using during the pandemic.
United recently stated that international carriers are returning and that Spirit and JetBlue “creating a crisis [Newark]” and that customers, particularly United’s customers are suffering from the frustrations and costs of the carriers’ careless disregard for all other operations.
Spirit will be required to give additional information by the Transportation Department about how it handles customer frustrations, delays and cancellations.
CNN reached out Tuesday afternoon to United but had not received a reply as of 6:30 p.m. ET.
