United Airlines, which pulled up its stakes at New York’s largest airport in 2015 is now apparently on the verge of returning to JFK, possibly within a few months.
The return to Kennedy would restore many lost connections with Star Alliance partners from around the world whose service arrives at JFK, as well as be a better sell for New Yorkers who find the trek and $15 tolls to United’s Newark hub a drag. That especially includes the 7.6 million people, 40% of New York State’s population, who live on Long Island, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
At the time of the switch, United felt its routes to California and other West Coast destinations faced too much competition at JFK from American, Delta and JetBlue; it traded slots with Delta, which pulled out of Newark to focus on JFK as a main East Coast hub.
It didn’t take United very long to regret the decision; as far back as 2017, United president Scott Kirby said that “I wish I could roll back the clock and change the decision. It was the wrong decision.” With air traffic at record lows and some overseas carriers either not returning or scaling back their presence, United now has an opportunity to bid for some of JFK’s rationed slots.
Well, I’ve just had a quick shufti on a couple of search sites looking at flights from NYC to Chicago, SF, LA, and I find that I can get the same or within $2 from JFK as from EWR…and without the longer (for me) drive or the $19 Verrazzano toll and the $16 for the Goethals Bridge. Of course, I could save the $19 by adding 30-60 minutes to my trip by driving into Manhattan to take the Holland Tunnel…
Not all New Yorkers are closer to Newark, and not all are closer to JFK.
For United, though, the big issue is that previous managers believed that their Star Alliance partners would follow them from JFK to Newark and Dulles…and they didn’t, which limits United’s trans-atlantic connections.
Because real New Yorkers would rather pay a higher ticket price than fly out of Newark.