United Airlines has today said that it would cease all operations at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) at the end of October if the FAA does not approve additional flights. The airline currently operates few flights from JFK compared to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), United's major New York hub.

The airline sees growth potential in JFK, but to expand its offered services there, it must first receive approval from the FAA. The routes it currently flies out of JFK are profitable; however, the airline would decrease costs by centralizing all of its New York flights at its base in Newark.

Route dispute

Since the pandemic, United operates only a handful of flights out of JFK. Its most notable routes are a twice-daily service to Los Angeles and San Francisco. United claims that it has been attempting to procure additional flight slots which allow the carrier to land and depart from the airport. The airline argues that it needs these additional slots to compete with other airlines at JFK, including Delta, JetBlue, and American.

United's CEO Scott Kirby wrote an email to the FAA's acting administrator Billy Nolen. In the email, Kirby stated,

"If we are not able to get additional allocations for multiple seasons, we will need to suspend service at JFK, effective at the end of October."

The FAA released a statement addressing the request stating that the slots cannot be delivered quickly as they must first undergo a thorough approval process. In the statement, a spokesperson for the airline said,

"(The FAA) must consider airspace capacity and runway capacity to assess how changes would affect flights at nearby airports. Any additional slots at JFK would follow the FAA's well-established process of awarding them fairly and to increase competition."

Clearance regulations

Under federal regulation 14 CFR Part 121, which outlines many of the regulations airlines must follow in the US, scheduled air services must be given clearance from the FAA before operating out of a given airport. This is specific to launching planned operations; any aircraft is permitted to land at any operating civilian airstrip in an emergency. Airliners may also fly to airports without 121 scheduled operation clearance as a part of a post-emergency response, such as what happened with an American Airlines 777 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, two days ago.

Forfeited slots

In 2015, United leased 24 of its JFK slots to Delta. At the time, United was focused on shifting nearly all of its New York Services to Newark, where it now operates 69% of all flights. This past June, United requested to cut 50 of its summer routes from Newark to address its traffic congestion issues. The FAA approved this request. The 50 routes accounted for approximately 12% of the airline's 425 daily flights to and from Newark.

This notably decreased United's presence in the New York metropolitan area. However, it has allowed many of its most important routes to operate more smoothly. The airline is looking to reinstate these flights this fall once traffic slows to a more manageable rate. If the airline successfully acquires the added slots at JFK, it will be able to expand its New York presence even further.