His comments came the same day United announced a new partnership with JetBlue — which many consider a budget carrier.

The airline also announced a partnership with JetBlue allowing customers to share perks and miles between the airlines.

Scott Kirby also said “Newark is safe” in the wake of outages and cancellations that have snarled air travel for the past several weeks, while speaking at WSJ’s Future of Everything festival.

Jetblue and United are teaming up. The airlines announced a partnership on Thursday to sell each other’s flights and link up their loyalty points programs. It’s the latest move by JetBlue to expand its network of routes. For years, Jetblue has been searching for the one — an airline to partner with, said Richard Aboulafia of AeroDynamic Advisory.