United Airlines will cut 12% of domestic flights out of its Newark hub July 1

June 23 (UPI) -- United Airlines executive Jon Roitman wrote in a message to employees Thursday that the airline is cutting 12% of flights from its Newark, N.J., hub starting July 1. It amounts to 50 flights, all domestic, according to United Airlines.

"After the last few weeks of irregular operations in Newark, caused by many factors including airport construction, we reached out to the FAA and received a waiver allowing us to temporarily adjust our schedule there for the remainder of the summer," Roitman wrote in a memo to staff.

Cutting these flights "should help minimize excessive delays and improve on time performance -- not only for our customers but for everyone flying through Newark," he said.

United doesn't anticipate any schedule changes at United's other six domestic hubs.

"We will continue to partner with the FAA and Port Authority so we can reinstate these 50 daily departures and revert to a full schedule from Newark as soon as possible," Roitman wrote.

United Airlines media relations said in an email that "we are proactively reaching out to customers impacted to work with them on alternative options."

United said this won't result in any market exits, just frequency reductions.

Over the past weekend, hundreds of flights were cancelled nationwide due to a variety of factors, including staffing shortages.

Newark Liberty International Airport, one of three major airports in the New York City metro area, had the most cancellations early Monday.