United Airlines is cutting many flights from its Newark Liberty International Airport hub between July and September. According to data from Cirium, 4,424 have been cut. The route with the most significant impact is Newark - Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA), located in Arlington, Virginia.

Cutting Flights from Newark

Spring has just started in the Northern Hemisphere, but airlines will begin operating summer schedules in just a few weeks. As airlines analyze demands, and a shortage of air traffic controllers in certain areas, like New York, prevents carriers from increasing capacity, schedule changes are being made. In today’s schedule change report from Cirium, data shows that United has cut more than 4,000 flights from its summer schedule at Newark. Flights from Newark to DCA are receiving the highest number of cuts, almost 50%. Last week, United had 522 flights scheduled from EWR to DCA in August; that number is now down to 290.

Below is the breakdown of the changes on the EWR-DCA route in July and August:

Based on last week’s data, United was anticipating operating a larger schedule between the two cities than in 2022, but those plans have changed. In July, the schedule change equates to a reduction of 12,140 seats on the route and another 11,670 in August.

The next most-cut route suffered a much smaller change than EWR-DCA. United’s flights to Pittsburgh were reduced by 62 (one-way) compared to data from the week prior during August. Last week, 269 flights were scheduled on the route; now, 207 remain, equating to a reduction of 4,180 seats (one-way).

Below is the breakdown of the changes on the EWR-PIT route in July and August:

The Chicago-based carrier is also cutting flights to cities like Buffalo, Philadelphia, Boston, Nashville, and Charlotte. From June and September, August’s schedule took the most brutal hit. Six hundred fifty-nine flights were cut in June, 585 in July, 841 in August, and 131 in September.

Not all bad news

The changes in this week’s data did not only reflect cuts. As a matter of fact, this week’s data shows something monumental for some of United’s seasonal routes from its hub at Washington Dulles International Airport. Previously, United’s service from Washington (IAD) to Lisbon, Barcelona, and Rome ended in October. The carrier plans to extend flights to those three destinations this year until mid-December. This latest change is yet another indicator that United hopes to have the largest transatlantic network of any carrier and become the world’s largest airline.