WASHINGTON, September 30 (Reuters) – United Airlines (UAL.O) On Friday, it said it would suspend service in late October to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK).
Earlier this month, United threatened to take action if the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not grant the air carrier additional flights.
United only flew twice a day to San Francisco and Los Angeles from JFK, the busiest airport in the New York area, after resuming service in 2021.
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“Given our current schedule, too small to be competitive outside JFK – along with the start of the winter season as more airlines will operate their slots as they resume flights at JFK – United have made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend service at JFK. United said in a note seen by Reuters. The airline did not specify when it would resume service.
United said its “discussions with the FAA have been constructive” but added, “It is also clear that the process of adding additional capacity at JFK will take some time.”
United said the decision would affect the 100 employees working at JFK, but stressed that “no one is losing their job” and that staff will move to other nearby terminals.
United is pursuing additional slots – takeoff and landing licenses – through the FAA and seeking commercial agreements for slots from other airlines.
The FAA said Friday that it is “dedicated to doing its part to securely expand New York City’s airports and airspace capacity. We will follow our fair and established process to award future time slots to increased competition.”
United said that without permanent slots it could not serve JFK “effectively compared to the larger schedules and more attractive flight times offered by JetBlue Airways”. (JBLU.O) and American Airlines (AAL.O).
In 2015 United entered into a long-term deal to lease 24 year-round spaces at JFK to Delta Air Lines. (DAL.N) It terminated JFK’s service to concentrate at its station near Newark in northern New Jersey.
United argues that there is room for growth at JFK, the 13th-busiest airport in the United States, because since 2008 the FAA and the Port Authority have made significant investments in infrastructure, including “expanding runways, building multi-entry runways, and creating High speed sperm alignment.”
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(Reporting by David Shepardson) Editing by Sandra Mahler and Aurora Ellis
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