United Airlines to Halt JFK Service Amid Battle with FAA; Newark Airport Rated Worst 

By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh

United Airlines announced it will suspend service to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.

As reported by the NY Post, on Friday, United said that at the end of October it will halt flight to JFK, the busiest New York City area airport.  The airline already has very limited flights into JFK, with just two flights daily to San Francisco and Los Angeles from JFK, since it resumed service there in 2021. United has been fighting the Federal Aviation Administration to grant it additional flights. In early September, United had threatened to stop servicing the airport if the FAA did not grant the air carrier its request.

“Given our current, too-small-to-be-competitive schedule out of JFK — coupled with the start of the winter season where more airlines will operate their slots as they resume JFK flying — United has made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend service at JFK,” United said, in a memo obtained by Reuters.

United didn’t add when it thought it would resume flights to John F. Kennedy Airport, but said its “discussions with FAA have been constructive”, however, “it’s also clear that process to add additional capacity at JFK will take some time.” The airline said the decision will impact about 100 employees who currently work at JFK, but stressed that “no one is losing their job” and employees will be moved to other nearby airports.

United has been trying to get additional slots, or takeoff and landing authorizations, through the FAA and by seeking commercial agreements from other airlines to take over their slots.  United said that without the permanent slots it cannot serve JFK “effectively compared to the larger schedules and more attractive flight times flown by our competitors” such as JetBlue Airways and American Airlines.

Per the Post, back in 2015, United had made a long-term deal to lease out 24 of its year-round slots at JFK to Delta Airlines.  United had hoped to focus on its nearby Newark hub in northern New Jersey, and also offers service out of LaGuardia Airport.  United makes the case that there is now more room at JFK, because of the infrastructure investments made by the FAA and the Port Authority since 2008 which included “widening of runways, construction of multi-entrance taxiways, and the creation of aligned high-speed turnoffs.”

JFK, the 13th-busiest airport in the country, was recently ranked as tied for third best “mega” airport in North America.  The ranking was conducted by data and analytics firm J.D. Power, which asked more than 26,500 American and Canadian travelers to rate the North American major airports based on factors such as terminal facilities, baggage claims, retail experience, and food and beverage quality.

The same survey rated Newark Liberty International airport, near NYC, as the worst “mega-airport” in North America. Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, the fourth-busiest airport in the world, was ranked as the second worst large airport in the country, while Los Angeles International Airport, or LAX, was ranked third worst.  The ranking named Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as the best large airport.  San Francisco International Airport was ranked second best, and Detroit’s Metropolitan Wayne County Airport was tied with JFK for third best.