New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport might be losing United Airlines for the second time in seven years.
USA Today reports the carrier ended its JFK service in 2015 in favor of Newark Liberty International Airport, but returned in February 2021 to pick up slots that were temporarily given up by its pandemic-impacted competition. However, those airlines are returning to pre-pandemic operations and have taken their slots back, leaving United with no place at JFK for its airplanes.
“The reason is simple: without permanent slots, we can”™t serve JFK effectively compared to the larger schedules and more attractive flight times flown by our competitors,” the airline said in a letter to its workforce. “For example, JetBlue currently flies to Los Angeles six times more often from JFK than United does and American flies there more than four times as frequently.”
The airline has tried to acquire permanent slots for more than a year through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and deals with other airlines, and it recently asked the FAA to increase capacity at JFK, which United said has remained unchanged since 2008.
“If our latest request is approved and the FAA can offer United an interim multi-season allocation, we are prepared to expand and provide consumers a more competitive JFK offering,” the airline said in its letter. “But if we are not able to get additional allocations for multiple seasons, we will need to suspend service at JFK, effective at the end of October.”
