RJNYC

There were quite a few international destinations from JFK in the 1990s to early aughts ... LHR NRT HKG GRU (GIG tag) EZE (MVD tag) CCS (POS tag?) ... JFK-CDG was applied for in the last set of slot allocations before the US-France open skies bilateral, but denied in favor of AA's SJC-CDG service.

Sadly 9/11 and the ensuing bankruptcy ended the JFK focus city. Water long under the bridge ... I feel sorry for the JFK based employees, many of the ones I've met over the years live in Queens or Long Island, which will be a very long commute to EWR (assuming that they don't lose their jobs in all this).

dsquared37

With apologies to John Cleese clearly.

British Airways Concorde

so now there will be a big hole in terminal 7, what could fill the UAL hole there and their name not being on the building will be wierd as hell..

Indelaware

Yes, "transition" is misleading. Typical PR people: trying to create hype for p.s. ex-EWR rather than simply stating a simple fact.

No reason whatsoever that UA wouldn't route you through Europe. And it doesn't matter if it is UA metal. They'd prefer you to be on a j.v. partner, but they would re-route you on any *A without much hesitation.

Here are some other routes to consider:

SFO-IST-JNB on TK/TK. Dep SFO 610p Arv JNB 950a
SFO-IAD-ADD-JNB on UA/ET/ET. Dep SFO 1139p Arv JNB 110p

You might also, maybe, be able to talk UA into SFO-ORD-JFK on UA/DL or UA/AA

Or you could just overnight at JFK.

You might be interested to know that SFO-FRA-JNB-WDH is only 524 mi longer than SFO-JFK-JNB-WDH.

ani90

And notably this long way preceded the current UA management, and indeed preceded the merger.

meFIRST

United shouldn't act like this is a done deal. Its subject to regulatory review.

This is from the US/DL DCA/LGA slot swap petition:

Among the issues that the DOT may consider in determining whether a particular standalone slot transaction merits further competitive review are those analyzed in connection with the Delta-US Airways slots swap, including whether:

The transaction would increase the airline's already dominant position in a significant manner, or place the airline in a significantly dominant position;

The transaction would significantly enhance an airline's ability to unreasonably increase its airfares in a manner unconstrained by competitors;

or

The transaction would enable slot interests to be used in an anti-competitive manner, such as by targeting smaller competitors.

I say its yes, yes, and yes, considering the only competition UA has ( from EWR) is VX that flies 3 times a day to LAX for example. Anyone care to contradict me?

Colin

this shift will happen even without regulatory approval - UA would cut capacity elsewhere to free up the handful of new EWR slots needed if UA fails to get new EWR slots from DL

FlyingNut724

or perhaps once again, UA is just retreating when facing competition.

Indelaware

It is not required to cut capacity at EWR to free up slots; UA could simply cut frequency on some routes whilst increasing gauge.

And likewise could find any number of takers for the JFK slots besides DL.

eponymous_coward

VX, WN, AS and B6 would all likely be hot and bothered for some JFK/EWR action. I would expect them to file objections to the DOT to any slot swaps. Historically the DOT has been very receptive to allowing carriers without a lot of presence in slot-restricted markets to gain additional presence.

jiburi

This is crazy. I'm sure they weighed everything and compared the pros and cons of three nyc airports, but to seeing JFK take the cut, a huge surprise. There is still LGA but why couldn't UA choose domestic LGA the airport to cut. Grr

Jiburi

spin88

LGA gives network access to NYC in a way that JFK was not, at least for United with only PS flights. I would prefer to fly into LGA anyday, the issue (for me) is the perimeter restriction; I would rather take a transcon to JFK than change planes. But cutting off LGA would cut off far more people, and my guess is do more network damage, than cutting PS at JFK.

I think that by not flying to JFK United is cutting itself off from a lot of valuable traffic, and more important will find itself cut off from a lot of corporate accounts, but if they are going to shoot themselves in the foot, this will hurt less than cutting LGA would have.

mherdeg

Regulatory review posed no problems for the NW/DL, CO/UA, or US/AA mergers, which clearly affected competition and the consumer travel experience much more than this slot swap. I don't think it's a serious problem.

If United does have a problem, I'm sure there's a DOT administrator who would love a 2x/weekly flight from IAD to his or her vacation home

anc-ord772

I would be surprised if they couldn't make ORD/IAH-JFK work. I guess JFK is an expensive operation.

kettle1

As I said up-thread, UA is currently the 2nd largest airline in the World. They can not provide service to IAH, DEN, ORD, IAD, SFO and LAX (all hubs) from JFK - something is wrong if they can not make a profit on those routes.

Forget LAX - UA can not compete on service levels in C (I get that). I question SFO being dropped, as that is a UA fortress hub? They can not make money going to ORD, IAD, and IAH? That, I question?

There must be more to this? For the 2nd largest airline in the World not to fly to one of the largest International Airports (JFK).

I deal with International clients from all over the World, and believe me they are not flying to EWR. When they think of New York City - they think of JFK. Period.

This may be a "brilliant" move by UA or it may be some Texas wisdom that is flowing though Willis Tower with this current UA management team. Time will tell. I know many clients that will not be traveling to EWR to visit New York City even if it is more convenient. They will choose another carrier. They will not take a train or bus, and that is a sure thing.

List of carriers that serve JFK:

Aeroflot
Aerolineas Argentinas
Aeroméxico
Air Berlin
Air Canada Express
Air China
Air Europa
Air France
Air India
Alitalia
All Nippon Airways
American Airlines
American Eagle
Arik Air
Asiana Airlines
Austrian Airlines operated by Tyrolean Airways
Avianca
Azerbaijan Airlines
British Airways
Brussels Airlines
Caribbean Airlines
Cathay Pacific
Cayman Airways
China Airlines
China Eastern Airlines
China Southern Airlines
Copa Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Connection
Dynamic Airways
EgyptAir
El Al
Emirates
Etihad Airways
EVA Air
Finnair
Fly Jamaica Airways
Hawaiian Airlines
Iberia
Icelandair
Interjet
Japan Airlines
JetBlue Airways
KLM
Korean Air
Kuwait Airways
LAN Airlines
LAN Ecuador
LAN Perú
LOT Polish Airlines
Lufthansa
Norwegian Air Shuttle
OpenSkies
Pakistan International Airlines
Philippine Airlines
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Royal Air Maroc
Royal Jordanian
Saudia
Singapore Airlines
South African Airways
Sun Country Airlines
Swiss International Air Lines
TAM Airlines
TAME
Thomas Cook Airlines
Transaero Airlines
Turkish Airlines
Ukraine International Airlines
United Airlines (soon to bail)
US Airways
Uzbekistan Airways
Virgin America
Virgin Atlantic
WestJet
XL Airways France