United has axed two of six daily Newark services after Heathrow told carriers it could not cope with any more passengers this summer.
However, Bob Schumacher, United’s sales director, UK, Ireland, Israel, South Africa and off-line markets, said the carrier would still be the biggest operator from North America to Europe.
He added that despite the latest setbacks: “I remind my staff every day that a year ago we would have given our hind teeth for what we have today.”
Heathrow has been criticised for its short-notice decision to curb flights via an open letter.
Schumacher explained: “There was a slot return last Friday. We were given heads-up from Heathrow that the level of operations last weekend would be higher than their expected ability to handle, so we were all encouraged to pare back.
“We had not expected them to mandate overnight and that was the bit that caused indigestion. We’ll see how it evolves from further discussions today. We have spare capacity that allows more consolidation.”
Schumacher said the carrier had started the summer at 118% of 2019 levels, having exited the pandemic with an expansion plan.
“It wasn’t something we were searching for, but others spooled up more slowly. We had the ability to grow in 2022 when others were treading water.”
United’s expansion has included new services from New York to Palma and Tenerife, mainly serving US customers. Schumacher said the Palma flight, operated on a wide-body Boeing 767, was selling well, together with the other new routes.
“The dollar is really strong and making Europe attractive,” he said.
“We’ve tried all sorts of new and exciting things that have regained the feelgood factor about returning to travel,” he said. “Good things are happening despite what’s going on around us.”
United reveals second-quarter results on 19 July. Schumacher said these would indicate revenue was “up dramatically”.
“We are absolutely delighted to see that the propensity to travel is still alive and kicking,” he added.
