Nov 10, 2020, 12:21 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Start of service has been delayed -- now 28 March 2021
In April 2021, single flight M,Th,F,Sa,Su
SFO UA520,UA523
LAX UA514, UA517
UA's 2021 Return to JFK - Inaugural Flights on 28 March thread
AS (and VX) Moved to T7 at JFK; New Alaska Lounge (April, 2018)
Earlier related threads
FlightGlobal: United seeks return to New York JFK
United Airlines President: Leaving New York’s JFK ‘Was the Wrong Decision’ {2017}
p.s. Operations Transitioning to EWR on October 25, 2015
In April 2021, single flight M,Th,F,Sa,Su
SFO UA520,UA523
LAX UA514, UA517
UA's 2021 Return to JFK - Inaugural Flights on 28 March thread
AS (and VX) Moved to T7 at JFK; New Alaska Lounge (April, 2018)
We are Back! United Announces Return to New York's JFK Airport
Airline to offer new transcontinental service from JFK to the west coast starting February 1
November 10, 2020
-- United Airlines announced today that it will be returning service to New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on February 1, 2021 with nonstop service to the west coast. The airline's entry back into JFK after five years reflects not only its strong commitment to the New York City area, but a continuation of aggressively and strategically managing the impact of COVID-19 by increasing service to and from the places where customers want to fly. The new United service will operate out of Terminal 7.
Effective February of next year, United will serve both JFK to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and JFK to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) with two round-trips for each west coast city. The flights will utilize the reconfigured Boeing 767-300ER aircraft on the routes offering customers an extended premium cabin featuring 16 additional United Business class seats –providing all-aisle-access seating – bringing the total premium cabin seat count to 46. The aircraft will also feature 22 United Premium Plus® seats, 47 Economy Plus® seats and 52 Economy seats. United offers the most premium seats between the New York City area and Los Angeles and San Francisco markets. Tickets are now available for purchase on United.com.
"I have been waiting a long time to say this - United Airlines is back at JFK," said United's Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby. "Come early next year, we will be serving all three major New York City area airports with a best-in-class product to provide our customers unmatched transcontinental service from New York City and the west coast."
Airline to offer new transcontinental service from JFK to the west coast starting February 1
November 10, 2020
-- United Airlines announced today that it will be returning service to New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on February 1, 2021 with nonstop service to the west coast. The airline's entry back into JFK after five years reflects not only its strong commitment to the New York City area, but a continuation of aggressively and strategically managing the impact of COVID-19 by increasing service to and from the places where customers want to fly. The new United service will operate out of Terminal 7.
Effective February of next year, United will serve both JFK to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and JFK to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) with two round-trips for each west coast city. The flights will utilize the reconfigured Boeing 767-300ER aircraft on the routes offering customers an extended premium cabin featuring 16 additional United Business class seats –providing all-aisle-access seating – bringing the total premium cabin seat count to 46. The aircraft will also feature 22 United Premium Plus® seats, 47 Economy Plus® seats and 52 Economy seats. United offers the most premium seats between the New York City area and Los Angeles and San Francisco markets. Tickets are now available for purchase on United.com.
"I have been waiting a long time to say this - United Airlines is back at JFK," said United's Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby. "Come early next year, we will be serving all three major New York City area airports with a best-in-class product to provide our customers unmatched transcontinental service from New York City and the west coast."
"The upcoming return of United to JFK while continuing service at Newark Liberty and LaGuardia Airports will offer more choices for transcontinental flights just as travelers return to the skies," said Kevin O'Toole, Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "As the recovery begins, we're pleased to see these increased options for those who choose to fly in and out of the Port Authority's airports."
"United Airlines' return to JFK Airport is a clear sign that air travel is returning in New York and across the region," said Rick Cotton, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "As numbers start to rise, the Port Authority is ready to welcome travelers back to JFK, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia Airports with increased cleaning and sanitizing in all terminals and touch-free options from curb to gate to ensure a world-class travel experience even in these unprecedented times."
United's premium cabin will feature flat-bed seats on all flights similar to the current Newark-Los Angeles and Newark-San Francisco offerings, providing a consistent and comprehensive NYC-west coast product. Additionally, United's wide-body service can participate in the robust cargo market between JFK and the west coast.
"United Airlines' return to JFK Airport is a clear sign that air travel is returning in New York and across the region," said Rick Cotton, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "As numbers start to rise, the Port Authority is ready to welcome travelers back to JFK, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia Airports with increased cleaning and sanitizing in all terminals and touch-free options from curb to gate to ensure a world-class travel experience even in these unprecedented times."
United's premium cabin will feature flat-bed seats on all flights similar to the current Newark-Los Angeles and Newark-San Francisco offerings, providing a consistent and comprehensive NYC-west coast product. Additionally, United's wide-body service can participate in the robust cargo market between JFK and the west coast.
FlightGlobal: United seeks return to New York JFK
United Airlines President: Leaving New York’s JFK ‘Was the Wrong Decision’ {2017}
p.s. Operations Transitioning to EWR on October 25, 2015
UA service JFK<> SFO/LAX , experiences, lounge, ....
Sep 29, 2020, 12:58 pm
#46
Join Date: May 2012
Location: ORF, RIC
Programs: UA LT 1K, 3 MM; Marriott Titanium; IHG Platinum
Posts: 6,952
UA can add flights to other hubs, too, such as IAH. One stop option (via IAH) to JFK will be attractive to Mexico and Latin America pax (from small out stations).
Sep 29, 2020, 1:01 pm
#47
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Austin, TX - AUS
Programs: AA Platinum, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott
Posts: 1,625
Possibly Terminal 8. Plenty of unused gates there.
Sep 29, 2020, 1:07 pm
#48
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,375
the new EWR-HND never started.... wonder if they want to move to JFK-HND , though ANA covered both JFK-HND and JFK-NRT pre-covid
Sep 29, 2020, 1:19 pm
#49
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
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Posts: 9,447
My (conspiracy) theory is that exiting JFK was tied to the PATH extension to EWR along with the new Airtrain. Those were supposed to have been done by this year (construction has not begun on either).
Under that plan, EWR would be 26 minutes from Wall Street and the best choice for business flyers, hands down.
Remember, all that happened at the same time as the various corruption scandals involving United and PANY/NJ, including the flights from Atlantic City, the "chairman's special flight" and other shady/illegal deals. The PATH extension makes little sense to taxplayers, and even less sense to Newark residents; it only benefits United. The plan backfired and since it wont be built until 2024 (if ever), United needs a Plan B, which is back to JFK.
Under that plan, EWR would be 26 minutes from Wall Street and the best choice for business flyers, hands down.
Remember, all that happened at the same time as the various corruption scandals involving United and PANY/NJ, including the flights from Atlantic City, the "chairman's special flight" and other shady/illegal deals. The PATH extension makes little sense to taxplayers, and even less sense to Newark residents; it only benefits United. The plan backfired and since it wont be built until 2024 (if ever), United needs a Plan B, which is back to JFK.
Recall United at the same time announced it struck a deal with Delta to swap slots at JFK/EWR... then, less than a year later, the FAA dropped EWR to a Level 2 airport and the slot restrictions went away. In 2015, UA was also busy trying to keep Spirit and Frontier out of EWR (a move that would also benefit Delta), so the "friendly' slot swap ensued.
Agreed. I think that this is the part that they did not consider when they left JFK:
https://viewfromthewing.com/united-a...jfk-next-year/
https://viewfromthewing.com/united-a...jfk-next-year/
- But the bean counters looked only at revenue and expense for the those particular flights and missed the bigger picture — they lost lucrative corporate contracts that made other routes profitable when they dropped service to the airport.
I don't see any United international in JFK's future, and UA is a joint venture partner on the NH flights. This is about JFK-SFO and, to a lesser extent, JFK-LAX (if it restarts).
Sep 29, 2020, 1:21 pm
#50
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 4,118
My guess is LAX, SFO and at least one other. Perhaps ORD as it's UA's largest operation. OTOH, I could see IAH as it's not as well covered by *A. Essentially everyone in *A flying TATL is already servicing ORD (maybe not TAP?) but fewer are at IAH. Unless there's major cargo to be had from JFK that's not available at EWR (doubtful), I can't see them getting into the INTL space from JFK until it's proven to be a success. Fixed costs are much higher when they take that step and that seems to be what drove them out of JFK in the first place.
Last edited by JimInOhio; Sep 29, 2020 at 1:37 pm
Sep 29, 2020, 1:34 pm
#51
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: LGA
Programs: UA 1K *G; SPG Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 103
If this is about growing SFO vs. recovering LAX market share, how much of a play is this for more business from the FAANGs of the world? Pretty sure FB and Google split their contracts (but could be wrong), and we know that Apple is (or was) UA's biggest corporate customer.
Sep 29, 2020, 1:39 pm
#52
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 674
I don't doubt some political angling, though United leaving JFK does not benefit the PANYNJ, and I've never seen any credible estimate of a PATH extension to EWR entering service in the 2020/21 timeframe... maybe a construction start, but even that I strongly question.
Recall United at the same time announced it struck a deal with Delta to swap slots at JFK/EWR... then, less than a year later, the FAA dropped EWR to a Level 2 airport and the slot restrictions went away. In 2015, UA was also busy trying to keep Spirit and Frontier out of EWR (a move that would also benefit Delta), so the "friendly' slot swap ensued.
Recall United at the same time announced it struck a deal with Delta to swap slots at JFK/EWR... then, less than a year later, the FAA dropped EWR to a Level 2 airport and the slot restrictions went away. In 2015, UA was also busy trying to keep Spirit and Frontier out of EWR (a move that would also benefit Delta), so the "friendly' slot swap ensued.
As reported by WSJ in 2014:
United’s departure also adds another question mark to a related initiative—the Port Authority’s consideration of extending the PATH rail line from its terminus in downtown Newark to the Newark Airport rail station, which would provide greater access from lower Manhattan and parts of New Jersey.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that a then-high-ranking appointee of Mr. Christie, Bill Baroni, had floated the PATH-extension idea in closed-door negotiations with United in an effort to entice the airline to begin flights to Atlantic City.
United is the dominant airline at Newark Liberty International Airport, and aviation consultants said a mass-transit link to lower Manhattan could be an advantage in the competition for business passengers in New York.
When the new United flights to Atlantic City were announced last November, a United spokesman denied any connection to the PATH project.
A $1.5 billion line item for the PATH project was added to the Port Authority’s capital plan in February, after what one authority official said was the insistence of New Jersey officials. But the plan included only partial funding for the project.
The Port Authority has been gripped by turmoil since the original United talks, even as Mr. Christie’s efforts to shore up Atlantic City have failed to prevent reversals, such as the bankruptcy of the Revel casino. In addition, Mr. Baroni, who was deputy executive director of the Port Authority when he negotiated with United, resigned last year amid the scandal over lane closures at the George Washington Bridge.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that a then-high-ranking appointee of Mr. Christie, Bill Baroni, had floated the PATH-extension idea in closed-door negotiations with United in an effort to entice the airline to begin flights to Atlantic City.
United is the dominant airline at Newark Liberty International Airport, and aviation consultants said a mass-transit link to lower Manhattan could be an advantage in the competition for business passengers in New York.
When the new United flights to Atlantic City were announced last November, a United spokesman denied any connection to the PATH project.
A $1.5 billion line item for the PATH project was added to the Port Authority’s capital plan in February, after what one authority official said was the insistence of New Jersey officials. But the plan included only partial funding for the project.
The Port Authority has been gripped by turmoil since the original United talks, even as Mr. Christie’s efforts to shore up Atlantic City have failed to prevent reversals, such as the bankruptcy of the Revel casino. In addition, Mr. Baroni, who was deputy executive director of the Port Authority when he negotiated with United, resigned last year amid the scandal over lane closures at the George Washington Bridge.
One correction: The PATH extension was supposed to be open by 2022, not 2020. My mistake. It was supposed to start construction in 2018.
Sep 29, 2020, 1:44 pm
#53
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 4,118
It's not that leaving JFK would benefit PANY, it's that United felt confident that they could leave JFK because EWR was to become the closest airport to NYC, and in return United gave PANY a bunch of other goodies.
As reported by WSJ in 2014:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/united-...ity-1415384759
One correction: The PATH extension was supposed to be open by 2022, not 2020. My mistake. It was supposed to start construction in 2018.
As reported by WSJ in 2014:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/united-...ity-1415384759
One correction: The PATH extension was supposed to be open by 2022, not 2020. My mistake. It was supposed to start construction in 2018.
Sep 29, 2020, 2:01 pm
#54
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, UA Mileage Plus 1K, AA Executive Plat, Marriott Ambassador Elite
Posts: 2,344
The CNBC article lists Key Point #1 as:
"United ended service at New York’s JFK in October 2015 after losing money there."
What situation has changed or what could UA do differently that would allow them to make money this time?
"United ended service at New York’s JFK in October 2015 after losing money there."
What situation has changed or what could UA do differently that would allow them to make money this time?
Sep 29, 2020, 2:16 pm
#55
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: BDL/NYC/BOS
Programs: UA/*A Gold, Global Entry, Marriott Plat, Hilton+IHG Gold, Hertz PC, DL
Posts: 1,752
Fantastic news. I just hope the terminal experience is comparable to what T7 used to be: curbside to the gate or club in under 5 minutes.
Sep 29, 2020, 2:19 pm
#56
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: NYC: UA 1K, DL Platinum, AAirpass, Avis PC
Posts: 4,599
Sep 29, 2020, 2:21 pm
#57
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: LGA
Programs: UA 1K *G; SPG Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 103
That was not my experience. The security lines — including premium ones — could back up easily, and T7 didn't get PreCheck until years after UA left.
Sep 29, 2020, 2:25 pm
#58
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,447
It's not that leaving JFK would benefit PANY, it's that United felt confident that they could leave JFK because EWR was to become the closest airport to NYC, and in return United gave PANY a bunch of other goodies.
As reported by WSJ in 2014:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/united-...ity-1415384759
One correction: The PATH extension was supposed to be open by 2022, not 2020. My mistake. It was supposed to start construction in 2018.
As reported by WSJ in 2014:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/united-...ity-1415384759
One correction: The PATH extension was supposed to be open by 2022, not 2020. My mistake. It was supposed to start construction in 2018.
Sep 29, 2020, 3:25 pm
#59
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: B6 Mosaic, Bonvoy LT Titanium (x SPG LT), IHG Spire, UA Silver
Posts: 5,845
Mortgaging Mileage Plus to start routes guaranteed to set the cash they borrowed on fire. Sounds like a great plan
Sep 29, 2020, 3:34 pm
#60
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, UA Mileage Plus 1K, AA Executive Plat, Marriott Ambassador Elite
Posts: 2,344
I don't doubt some political angling, though United leaving JFK does not benefit the PANYNJ, and I've never seen any credible estimate of a PATH extension to EWR entering service in the 2020/21 timeframe... maybe a construction start, but even that I strongly question.
Recall United at the same time announced it struck a deal with Delta to swap slots at JFK/EWR... then, less than a year later, the FAA dropped EWR to a Level 2 airport and the slot restrictions went away. In 2015, UA was also busy trying to keep Spirit and Frontier out of EWR (a move that would also benefit Delta), so the "friendly' slot swap ensued.
That's been widely reported and consistent with what I've heard. Dropping JFK dealt a major blow to United's LAX corporate business, and hurt overall West Coast business as JFK is the preferred NYC-area airport for inbound New York City traffic (i.e., trips originating elsewhere).
I don't see any United international in JFK's future, and UA is a joint venture partner on the NH flights. This is about JFK-SFO and, to a lesser extent, JFK-LAX (if it restarts).
Recall United at the same time announced it struck a deal with Delta to swap slots at JFK/EWR... then, less than a year later, the FAA dropped EWR to a Level 2 airport and the slot restrictions went away. In 2015, UA was also busy trying to keep Spirit and Frontier out of EWR (a move that would also benefit Delta), so the "friendly' slot swap ensued.
That's been widely reported and consistent with what I've heard. Dropping JFK dealt a major blow to United's LAX corporate business, and hurt overall West Coast business as JFK is the preferred NYC-area airport for inbound New York City traffic (i.e., trips originating elsewhere).
I don't see any United international in JFK's future, and UA is a joint venture partner on the NH flights. This is about JFK-SFO and, to a lesser extent, JFK-LAX (if it restarts).