United Airlines flight cancellations: U.S.-Iran war impact: Major American carrier United Airlines to cut 5 per cent of planned

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said Friday that the airline will cancel about 5 percent of scheduled flights in the short term as jet fuel prices rise due to conflicts in the Middle East.

“If prices stay at this level, that would mean spending an extra $11 billion annually on jet fuel alone,” Kirby said in a message to employees on the company’s website, adding that its plans assume oil will rise to $175 a barrel and not return to $100 a barrel until the end of 2027.

Kirby added that the airline’s current plan is to rearrange the entire schedule this fall.
The airline is canceling nearly three percentage points of capacity during off-peak periods in the second and third quarters. It also pulled services to Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel and Dubai International Airport in the UAE, affecting capacity by about 1 percentage point.

The airline will add another percentage point of capacity to Chicago O’Hare International Airport following Federal Aviation Administration plans to reduce flights this summer.