United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby stated that flights out of Newark this summer will be the cheapest in the airline's history, attributing the low prices to a surplus of available seats caused by lost bookings. Kirby also declared the budget airline model as "dead," criticizing it for its poor treatment of customers. In response, Frontier Airlines' CEO suggested that Kirby's comments were directed at other carriers. The combination of operational challenges such as runway issues and technological disruptions has contributed to the unusually low fares this summer.