United will cut some New York-area, DC flights after US waiver

United Airlines said Thursday it will reduce summer flights at three New York and Washington area airports after the FAA allowed carriers to do so due to an air traffic controller shortage. Starting in May, United is reducing daily departures from Newark Liberty International Airport to 408 from 438 on peak summer travel days. Daily flights between Newark and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport will drop to 10 from 18. Daily departures from New York LaGuardia Airport to Washington Dulles International Airport will decrease to six from nine. In many cases, United will fly larger aircraft to minimize disruption to passengers. United could cut more flights beginning in June. Air travelers could face another rough summer as carriers struggle to meet burgeoning flight demands after the pandemic. In March, the FAA agreed to requests by Delta Aand United to temporarily return up to 10% of slots and flight timings at congested New York John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia, Newark and Washington National airports, citing air traffic controller shortages for flights from May 15 to Sept. 15. The carriers agreed to cuts on the condition they not be backfilled. Airlines can lose slots at congested airports if they do not use them at least 80% of the time. Despite the cuts, Chicago-based United will still fly 5% more seats out of the affected airports than in the summer of 2019, it said. Reductions will impact less than 2% of customers there. <br/>