FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - United Could Move ‘the Bulk’ of its Operations from Newark if Jet Fuel Tax Increases
Old Sep 16, 2018, 7:31 pm
  #17  
emcampbe
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Serious question here, and I’m just a laymen, not a lawyer, so apologize if this sounds silly.

Obviously, UA can’t just take its business out of one of its largest hubs and just move it elsewhere. But aren’t there legal questions here? If this passes, it seems to me, anyway, that this could be considered discriminatory based on only applying to airline(s) that carry 8 million or more passengers? Couldn’t UA sue to have this law struck down based on that? And likely win.

Also, aren’t there other ways that UA could fight this? For example, with no slot limits, couldn’t they, for example, just start splitting up much of its EWR operation and give it to multiple Express carriers, so that no one carries over 8 million pax. Or transfer some of its jets to another ‘carrier’ that could operate for them - maybe, say, Continental Airlines?

i also wonder why the state would want to start a fight with presumably one of its largest employers and a company that provides that much economic activities in the state? Is there something going on behind the scenes that UA did to get the ire of the NJ government? It seems to me a state wouldn’t wont to provoke this kind of fight with a major contributor to the economy in the state? Or are they trying to extract some sort of concession from UA to ‘drop’ this tax. Seems very strange to me that this would happen out of the blue - seems there is something missing to the story here.
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