The 13 flights United Airlines is most likely to cancel at Newark airport as chaos shows no signs of slowing

The chaos at Newark Liberty International Airport over the last week has resulted in hundreds of cancelled flights — and United Airlines is nixing many routes to and from smaller cities in an effort to scale back traffic.

United — which accounts of 75% of Newark’s traffic — announced last week it was cancelling 35 daily flights into and out of the New Jersey hub to mitigate the snarl that has resulted from air traffic controller shortages, aging safety equipment and a runway under construction.

United has declined to detail the flights that have gotten axed, but data from real-time flight tracking service FlightRadar24 shows that certain routes — mostly to and from small airports — are being targeted.

Here are the 13 flights that United has canceled most often since the crisis began:

• UA3603 – Grand Rapids, Mich. to Newark
• UA3684 – St. Louis to Newark
• UA3626 – Montreal to Newark
• UA2161 – Newark to San Francisco
• UA3528 – Portland, Maine to Newark
• UA3437 – Newark to Milwaukee
• UA3609 – Newark to Louisville, Ky.
• UA3469 – Newark to Memphis
• UA3675 – Columbus, Ohio to Newark
• UA3481 – Indianapolis to Newark
• UA3712 – Myrtle Beach, S.C. to Newark
• UA3509 – Newark to Pittsburgh
• UA3514 – Quebec City, Canada to Newark

Moving forward, flights to smaller destinations are most likely to face cancellation — leaving passengers scrambling for alternatives, experts say.

That’s because international routes, and flights to larger airports tend to use bigger planes, which offer better profit margins for the airline.

“The flights that would probably be least impacted would be the international flights, the ones where people are coming on connections from all over,” said Kyle Bailey, a former FAA Safety Team representative and pilot.

“What they don’t want to do is affect the real high-ticket flights,” he said.

United CEO Scott Kirby announced a reduction in flights at Newark in a May 2 letter to customers, citing staffing shortages at the Philadelphia air traffic control center that oversees landings and takeoffs at Newark Airport.

“United is committed to doing absolutely everything in our power to minimize the impact that this will have on customers and so we are unilaterally cancelling 35 roundtrip flights per day from our Newark schedule starting this weekend,” he wrote.

At least five controllers recently went on 45-day trauma leave after an April 28 incident when an equipment failure sparked by a fried copper wire plunged the center into darkness, forcing them to land planes without radar or communication for about 90 seconds.

The after-effects of the failure led to a multi-day logjam of flight traffic at one of America’s busiest airports.

Bailey said although holders of pricey international tickets were less likely to be impacted by United’s cuts, the airline looks at data to determine who is connecting where, and that it “all comes down to money” when such decisions are made.

“The most impacted will be little cities that are not really consequential, with smaller planes. What used to be called the ‘puddle jumpers’ — those would be the flights,” he said, adding those traveling domestically to smaller, more niche destinations might find themselves out of luck.

“It would probably be the father picking up his daughter in college or visiting his daughter in college. It could also be a business traveler commuting to the job like a consultant,” he said.

“They are looking for what I would call the ‘fair-weather flyers’ who are not going anywhere exotic — the basic travelers,” he noted.

“It’s all a money-making game basically. They are looking at the least distraction to their bottom line. They don’t really care if Joe Schmo has the highest medallion status or premier status, they are just looking at the bottom line for their flights.”

United Airlines declined to comment when contacted by The Post.

Bailey said most airlines have actually increased their number of flights at Newark Airport in recent years, while United — which makes up around 75% of the airport’s flight traffic — has slashed service. In November 2023 the airline cut 700 flights from Newark.

“But United with Newark being the biggest operator — and for lack of a better term — is the culprit here.”

He said it’s unclear whether the 35 canceled flights would ever be coming back.

“They are doing whatever they deem to be the most profitable for them.”