Starting October 29th, United Airlines will no longer run flights to and from JFK Airport in a short hiatus before the winter.
Claiming that its schedule at the airport is too minuscule to remain competitive in the market, the airline said the “difficult decision” was reached in part due to more airlines resuming flying to and from JFK in the winter season.
“The significance of JFK to our operation hasn’t changed — we think New York customers deserve more choices, and robust United service to JFK is good for our customers, our employees and our airline,” United said in a letter to CNN. “As a result, we will continue our pursuit of a bigger and more desirable schedule for our customers and be ready to seize those opportunities if and when they surface.”
Source: NY Times (Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)
While making the announcement, the airline also said that its 100 employees who work at JFK will not lose their jobs and will simply be transferred to other nearby locations and that it is “working with customers” who have flights booked with them from JFK scheduled for after October 29.
As it stands, United Airlines has appealed to the FAA to provide it with more highly coveted takeoff and landing spots at JFK, while also asking the agency to update its assessment of the airport’s capacity.
“The FAA is dedicated to doing its part to safely expand New York City airports and airspace capacity,” the agency said in a statement. “We will follow our fair and well-established process to award future slots to increase competition between airlines so passengers have more options.”
This being said, United had earlier threatened to stop its service from JFK if the FAA didn’t give it additional slots, less than two years after a 5-year hiatus from service at the airport.
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