United Airlines CEO strives to prevent flight disruptions during US Fourth of July holiday travel.

By Anirudh Saligrama

(Reuters) – United Airlines plans to make changes in flight operations to avoid weather-related disruptions ahead of the Fourth of July holiday travel, Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby said on Saturday.

Recent flight disruptions have raised new concerns about whether airlines are ready to handle the summer travel boom during the first Fourth of July holiday in which U.S. air traffic is likely to exceed pre-COVID levels.

“While we work to control the things that are within our control, we must also do a better job of planning against the things that are outside our control so that we can be in a position to recover more quickly,” Kirby said in a note.

Last month, United canceled about 19% of its scheduled flights as thunderstorms and equipment failures at a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility in Washington caused significant delays for air travelers on the U.S. East Coast.

About 26,000 flights were delayed by all airlines during a weekend in June after thunderstorms ripped through parts of the U.S., according to data from flight monitoring service FlightAware. Kirby last week blamed the FAA for recent flight cancellations.

United Airlines is also working with Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to get more gates, Kirby said, adding that the company would have to further change or reduce its schedule give itself more spare gates and buffer, particularly during storm season.

“Airlines can plan for things like hurricanes, sub-zero temperatures and snowstorms, but United has never seen an extended limited operating environment like the one we saw this past week at Newark,” Kirby said in a note to employees.

(Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio)

Heading into 2024, many voters aren’t feeling positive about the economy under Biden.

One America’s Monica Paige is joined by a small business owner for his insight on the state of the economy.

One America’s Bridget Bosco speaks with a Front Royal, VA mom and community organizer, Colleen DeLaFleur, about parents’ efforts to get pornographic and objectionable books out of the public library.

One America’s Bridget Bosco speaks with actor Jim Caviezel, who plays Tim Ballard in “Sound of Freedom.”

President Trump is heading to Pickens, South Carolina on Saturday to celebrate Independence Day.

The pay and benefits details of nearly 2,000 staff members of DAA, which operates Ireland’s Dublin airport, were compromised due…

Exchange operator Cboe on Friday refiled an application with the U.S. securities regulator to launch…

Google has hired Brazilian former President Michel Temer to lobby lawmakers considering a proposal to regulate the internet, his adviser said…

Apple Inc’s stock market value ended a trading session above $3 trillion for the first…