United Airlines has just announced that it will restart service at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport(JFK) with initial routes to both Los Angles(LAX) and San Francisco(SFO), which are both key United hubs. Service is slated to begin on February 1, 2021. United plans to utilize the 767-300ER and will operate out of Terminal 7 which already houses a host of different airlines such as British Airways, Iberia, All Nippon Airways, LOT Polish Airlines, Aerolineas Argentinas, Alaska Airlines, Eurowings, Icelandair, and Ukraine International Airlines.
With the advent of coronavirus, JFK has seen significant drops in passenger activity like most airports worldwide. JFK used to be one of the busiest airports in the nation with extreme congestion and very limited space for additional takeoffs or landings. During this pandemic, United has been able to acquire additional plane slots, allowing it to operate out of JFK after a five-year hiatus.
United dropped out of JFK in 2015 due to unprofitability and focused its efforts on its hub at Newark International Airport(EWR) in New Jersey. EWR is a massive United hub with an emphasis on transcontinental flights and many of its transatlantic operations. Additionally, United holds the most market share at EWR and operates out of all three of EWR’s terminals. However, United’s absence at JFK allowed heavyweights like American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and JetBlue Airways to expand and obtain United’s existing customers that didn’t want to travel to the more distant Newark. Generally, the most profitable customers are the business travelers who are willing to shell out thousands to catch the last minute flight on congested transcontinental routes to California. United’s five-year absence has resulted in its competitors acquiring many of its most premium customers. United’s move back into JFK will put extreme pressure on who gets to serve these profitable customers once again. United will once again be serving all three major airports in the New York area with Laguardia International Airport(LGA), JFK, and EWR.
