p.s. Operations Transitioning to EWR on October 25, 2015
 

Hi everyone,

Today we are announcing the transition of our transcontinental p.s. premium service from JFK to EWR, for flights to SFO and LAX, beginning October 25. When we transition p.s. operations to EWR, we will cease operations at JFK.

The launch of p.s. at EWR will bring an upgraded airport product to p.s. customers, and coincides with investments already in progress at SFO and LAX. Customers flying out of EWR will have access to near-hourly transcontinental service, with the most flat-bed seats in the New York-SFO/LAX combined market. In addition to the p.s. aircraft we are moving from JFK to EWR, we will also reposition some of our flatbed-equipped 757s from trans-Atlantic routes to transcontinental routes in order to maintain or grow our existing EWR frequency levels. When we have completed this schedule adjustment, all of our flights from EWR to LAX and SFO will feature flat-bed seats.

Read more about the p.s. transition in our press release. If you are already booked on a p.s. flight departing after October 25, we will be rebooking you on one of our Newark-based p.s. flights. This change will happen the weekend of June 19. Once the change is processed, if the schedule or route doesn’t work for you, please contact us for other options.

-UA Insider

Great news for those of us in NJ! When will we be able to see seat maps on post-Oct 25 flights?

End of an era at JFK, though...

Wow!!! That's huge.

Questions that come to mind:

1) will all flights be ps, or just some?
2) will all flights have flat bed?
3) if I am booked to Ewr and hoping for a cpu - for a flight after oct 25 - will I be able to change my booking to secure a mileage upgrade?

Well that's quite stupid...bye bye JFK

I hope ORD-LGA isn't next.

Poor decision IMO. T7 at JFK is great as you can easily be curb to gate in 5 minutes. Such a nice small terminal. :td:

Wow....The end of an era. Thanks for the good times T7 and all my loved RCC staff. what a bitter moment:(

http://s10.postimg.cc/d42xf8vi1/JFK...nited_sign.jpg

Was there a crew base at JFK? Will there be?

I wonder if any of the *A carriers at JFK will leave for EWR. Quite a few - AC, CA, AI, NH, OZ, OS, AV, SN, CM, MS, BR, LO, LH, SQ, SA, LX, TK ( http://www.staralliance.com/en/servi...on/airport/jfk ).

Totally agree with you - but I can understand the UA logic here - it must be a significant cost investment in operating such a small operation full time when you have a huge hub 10 miles away... Wonder if this means we will get better lounge options at EWR?

I was wondering who was going to blink first...

Wow. Another reason to abandon United for NYC travel.

My EWR-SFO flight booked at the end of November and upgraded with an RPU just got a lot more interesting!

I kind of figured it was in development.
I'm not NYC based but I did travel to NYC 2-4 times a year and prefered JFK for taxi reasons. Taking a cab to EWR during rush hour is a pain and I almost always took the subway to Penn Station.

I tend to agree and at the same time disagree. (not with the T7 aspect, but the overall shutdown of JFK).

For those who use EWR mainly, this is a big increase in amenities and service.

For those *A connections to/from EU over to the West Coast, this basically forces passengers to schlep over to another airport, cross alliances, or book JetBlue.

I will defer on the NYC passenger impact, because I think we've gone through that discussion over and over again. (east side v. west side)

Wow, guess the writing was on the wall when they pulled the non-PS feeder flights. With AA/B6/DL ramping up service and B6 causing premium fares to drop, guess it makes some sense. Two more flagship pre merger UA routes bite the dust as they retreat back to the fortress hub at EWR.

I doubt it. JFK is still the ideal international airport for those carriers if NYC is your final destination.

If you are using NYC to transfer, you can book a flight in to EWR and continue on via UA service.

I'm sorry, but this is a bad bad bad decision. People in the west coast, dislike EWR, and they will take business elsewhere. I remember hearing UA was making money on this route now they are not? Is it because First went away on the route?

I really don't understand how a world class airline, won't serve JFK. Sorry, but this is a big loss, and a dumb move by UA.

Symbolically it's shocking, but moving to EWR is also a way to differentiate UA's product (versus DL, AA, and JetBlue) and to capture high yielding passengers who prefer EWR for locational convenience. It also facilitates west coast connections at EWR to UA and some *A TATL flights. UA's NYC hub is at EWR, not JFK, and for connections they have fewer partner flights than earlier (US at LGA before the swap with DL at DCA) if people are willing to do the LGA to JFK transfer.

I don't think I've ever read those words together before...

EWR's value (vs. LGA & JFK) is for connecting to/from international flights. If your final destination is NYC, EWR is the worst of the 3.

EWR is like OAK while JFK is SFO.

Yes I am wondering this as well.

For a long time, AA and UA were the only airlines running premium flights JFK-SFO/LAX. Now Delta and JetBlue have started their premium flights, impacting yields. EWR-SFO/LAX had no premium flights and were treated like any other transcon. I think UA sees an opportunity to offer PS on EWR-SFO/LAX and will reallocate its planes accordingly.

Not if you live or work in New Jersey. There are HVC there too, not just in the city, on Long Island, or in southern/western Connecticut.

The press release says all flights. Doesn't say whether the 752's that are coming off TATL routes will be reconfigured with additional BF seats or left with 16 BF seats.

I also liked the comments about EWR and new technologies -

United Airlines is partnering with OTG Management to transform the shopping and dining experience in Terminal C, already one of the most modern airline terminals in the country, with high-end restaurants designed by internationally and regionally acclaimed chefs and gate areas updated with custom seating and tables.

In gate areas, United customers will be able to use iPads to track their flights and order food and beverages for delivery to the gate within 15 minutes.

With electronic payment technology, MileagePlus members are able to use award miles for food, beverage and other purchases with the nearly 6,000 iPads to be deployed for customer use throughout the terminal.

(Bolding mine...)

Don't forget about the pmUA employees who are going to undoubtedly suffer. They aren't going to need all of them at EWR. Such a sad day for all my JFK friends. God bless you all, keep your chin held high!

Big surprise and a big loss. JFK transcon fares were competitively priced. Guessing EWR transcon fares will not be.


SunLover

JFK is a competitive station.
EWR is a fortress hub.
Enough said.


SunLover

I'm doubt it's limited to west coasters that dislike it.

I really hope UA doesn't begin to cut back on capacity in/out of LGA. I try to only fly via LGA on UA when in the city.

Pretty much describes it :td:

Wonder what the total capacity cut will be once they move the flights over...can't imagine they'll have the same total # of SFO/LAX flights.

I've said it before, but once again, this is just stupid. Once again, UA runs away from the competition. Run UA Run.

What about all those 777 being reconfigured, I'm guessing those will not fly any EWR-SFO,LAX? Wasn't the goal to take hub to hub flights and minimize them with larger aircraft. Oh boy UA, you really have no plan. Sell the slots to Delta, show a nice balance sheet and continue your jobs for a few more years.

Bad bad bad. Did I say, BAD?

Buried in the press release are announcements of lounge and ticket lobby renovations at EWR, too, along with a slot swap with DL (DL gives up some EWR to UA, UA gives up JFK portfolio to DL).

From http://www.cnbc.com/id/102752207

Interesting. I would not have guessed UA was struggling at JFK for that long.

Yes others do too, but they have LGA as an option. People in SFO and LAX will no longer be able to get to the other side without connecting in ORD, DEN or IAH.

They will not be able to sustain hourly PS service as they will lose a ton of West Coast traffic to AA, DL and JetBlue. Then PS will pooof away into the sunset.

Another good sUA product that they couldn't wait to throw away.

This will increasing make *A flights at JFK O&D as there will be fewer convenient feeder flights operated by partners. NYC is a big O&D market, but some partners operate nonstop flights to/from some rather exotic destinations that aren't easily served via other routes.

Sad :(

Always enjoyed flying to SFO/LAX via JFK to get p.s. service. EWR just isn't as convenient.

Getting to/from Newark from Midtown Manhattan is a disaster. They are going to lose a decent chunk of customers

DING! Oh well. One less GFL as well then, I suppose.

If I were still living full time in NYC after this I say good riddance to JFK, was much more of a hassle getting there from my place (Astor Place) than to EWR. The lounge was nothing special compared to at EWR and the terminal was fairly dumpy.

Was already looking at some TATL flights to GPU and not finding West Coast-EU space it makes for a better route if having to connect in the east coast that you can go SFO/LAX-EWR-EU in a flat bed instead of a recliner for the TCON.

Have you never heard of the AirTrain from NYP?

My guess is the JFK base will start working the sUA flights ex-EWR (dom/intl) if they already haven't done so.

so one of two things happen.

All flights are PS, in which capacity between hubs is a nightmare, or
There are other flights, then a lot of the cost premium disappears.

Either way - I wouldn't be shocked if UA eliminated PS in a few years when they find that they lost a LOT of business from NYC customers and can't sustain PS on hub-to-hub feeders

edit: so - UA continues its retreat to fortress hubs, to turn back into the same sCO that originally needed a merger to survive because it couldn't last on fortress hubs... interesting strategy

A disaster? I think n:)t. There are trains and there is a bus every 15 minutes. And besides, getting from midtown to JFK is no walk in the park.

Regarding the announcement, I always expected UA to add an EWR p.s. route, not to move the whole thing to EWR.

Wow, no presence at all at JFK. I wish they would switch the name of the airline to CO. This airline is returning to pmCO in its entirety. 3rd rate airline, flying into 3rd rate airports.

One of the nice things about the P.S. product was guaranteed decent wifi. The 757 fleet ex-P.S. is a big question mark. Will that Wifi upgrade get completed prior to the closure of JFK, or should business travelers who want Wifi book basically anybody else?