United Airlines Flies Huge Payload Of N95 Masks To Newark Airport

NEWARK, NJ — The United Airlines flight landed at Newark Liberty International Airport around 5 p.m. But instead of a plane full of passengers, a different sort of cargo disembarked: a huge payload of N95 masks.

On Thursday, United Airlines flew a shipment of 50,000 N95 masks from San Francisco International Airport to Newark. The masks will be put into the hands of first responders in the New York City/Northern New Jersey region as they serve on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis.

The bulk of the masks will be distributed to healthcare workers in New York City at the New Jewish Home, BronxCare Health Center and the Montefiore Medical Center. The remainder will go to a MedShare facility in Secaucus, New Jersey, for further distribution, United Airlines stated.

MedShare, a nonprofit that sources surplus medical supplies for communities in need, imported the masks from China earlier this week. United was then contacted by Airlink, another nonprofit that connects airlines with aid organizations, and asked to move the cargo.

United Airlines has moved more than 31 million pounds of cargo since March 19. Of that, about 1.3 million pounds was medical equipment, and another two million pounds were items and mail for U.S. military service members, spokespeople said.

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