An equipment outage on 28 April at Newark Liberty airport in New Jersey is causing "residual delays" to flights. The airport says in an update posted at 19:29 local time that the disruption has been caused by an "earlier FAA equipment outage" without providing further details. Flight tracking data shows that almost two hours after the airport's latest update that it is still experiencing excessive delays. Newark is a key hub airport for United Airlines which has issued a travel waiver for passengers on impacted flights to and from the airport. "An FAA equipment malfunction caused a significant disruption at Newark Liberty Airport this afternoon, shutting down all flight operations. As the FAA fully restores its ability to manage air traffic control at Newark, we expect cancellations and delays for the rest of the day," it says in a post on X.

Former US Federal Aviation Administration head Mike Whitaker is to join Indian carrier IndiGo's board as an independent director, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. Whitaker stepped down from his role as FAA administrator on 20 January, having announced in December that he would leave on the day of US president Donald Trump's second inauguration. He had been selected to lead the FAA by previous president Joe Biden and was confirmed by the US Senate on 23 October 2023. IndiGo managing director Rahul Bhatia states that Whitaker's "deep and varied industry and government experience will contribute significantly to having an effective and diverse board". He adds: "His focus on efficiency, operations [and] air safety as head of the FAA will reinforce IndiGo's longstanding focus on operating at the highest levels. Also, his extensive experience in international governmental affairs will be hugely instrumental as IndiGo continues its global expansion." Whitaker says he is "deeply honoured" to join the board of "the world's fastest-growing airline on its way to become a global aviation giant". Prior to leading the FAA, Whitaker was chief operating officer of electric air mobility vehicle manufacturer Supernal. He had previously served as deputy administrator of the FAA from 2013 to 2016.

Prices for American Airlines' main cabin seats have dropped amid macroeconomic uncertainty, the US carrier's chief strategy officer Steve Johnson has observed. Speaking during an earnings call on 24 April, Johnson noted that this year there has been "significant weakness in the part of our business that is very sensitive to economic conditions, that is super price sensitive, [or] for whom travel is really discretionary". He adds: "That tends to be the main cabin, and that is weak. And the other airlines have identified that it's a source of weakness for them. In those circumstances, you do see prices that are lower… That's going to continue to be the case until we understand which direction the economy is going." American chief executive Robert Isom notes that no customer "relishes uncertainty" when they are considering spending "hard-earned dollars" on holidays. The US major faces a similar quandary. "We're taking a very cautious – even a negative – approach to growth as we take a look out to the rest of the year," Isom says. "What does that mean? It means that we don't hire as much. It means we don't bring out as many planes, potentially. It means a reduction overall of economic activity." American in the first quarter of 2025 made an operating loss of $270 million, reversing a $7 million profit made in the same period a year ago. The Fort Worth-based carrier in the first quarter generated $12.6 billion in operating revenue, level with the total generated in the first quarter of 2024. Operating expense grew 2%, to $12.8 billion. Capacity was decreased 1% year on year. American ended the first quarter with $10.8 billion of total available liquidity, total current liabilities of $26.1 billion and total non-current liabilities of $41 billion. It disclosed on 24 April that it had withdrawn its full-year guidance, adding that it "intends to provide a full-year update as the economic outlook becomes clearer".