JFK-GRU Rumor
 

A.net rumor that UA is going to operate JFK-GRU in place of Varig in the near-term. There is the comment and a link to an article in Portuguese (which I cannot read) in post 23 of the thread. I know it is A.net, so I do not put too much stock in it, but hey, it's a rumor... @:-)

http://www.airliners.net/discussions....main/2970690/

Maybe you missed it, UA is pulling all international flights out of JFK. If they had any spare planes laying around I'm sure it would operate these flights out of IAD.

Uhhh, I am based in NYC, don't think I missed that one. :rolleyes:

Did you actually read the post on A.net? It suggests that UA has made an agreement with Varig to operate the section while Varig is working things out. It is an A.net rumor (which implies that the liklihood of it being true is low), but nonetheless, I thought I would point it out.

Other *A carriers have helped RG (LH, TP, AC), though AFAIK none of them have actually operated RG flights. But it goes to show that it is in the interest of *A to keep RG operating at a minimum level. I still don't believe this rumour, especially given the source, but it's not completely unthinkable (UA starting their own service JFK-GRU would be unthinkable).

Oh well then it must be true, coming from A.net :rolleyes:

But, as of Aug 21 all Star Alliance carriers (including UA) have terminated the ticketing agreements with RG so not sure how that would work, maybe UA is doing it for free.... Also, they are in the process of taking the maintenance and associated support out for the 767/777 fleet so they wouldn't be able to service the airplanes.

Not to mention, UA has no spare planes... :rolleyes:

Why?

Remember GRU flights are very inefficent as the plane sits there an entire day. It takes two full planes to operate rather than one plane required for European destinations. You can operate the NRT flight with only 1 1/2 plane

...UA doesn't have the aircraft to operate the second seasonal frequency from IAD that is already loaded into the systems!!! :rolleyes:

As I said before, the only good thing about a.net is the photographs... ;)

Well, one of the planes does the short tag R/T flight to GIG; though that doesn't do much to improve the overall a/c utilization...

...now, of course, if UA timed its flights to make most of the early morning connections ex-GRU, then it could have a daytime return flight and get more use from the a/c @:-)

...but what do I know, right? ;)

When's that supposed to start?

When is it loaded into the systems? (IIRC, sometime in October) or, When will it actually operate? (the big question).

The only reason that UA would make any noiseabout this would be to try to roadblock any moves by either CO or DL to grab additional frequencies (as DL just has).

"Aren't there a couple of former UA, former RG 777's parked at JFK UA could use to fly the route?"

Yes. Yes there is. But why would we need those inefficient 777s with their inferior C product when we can just order a bunch of 787s and have them ready for delivery before our shiny new A380s in TED configuration show up?

:rolleyes:

Here's the link, in Portuguese, about the rumored JFK-GRU flights. Pretty much, the article states UA plans to fly the route due to Varig's misfortunes.

http://cidadebiz.oi.com.br/paginas/3...0/36480-1.html