Wow: United Airlines Plans To Return To JFK Airport

https://hub.united.com/2020-11-10-we-are-back-united-announces-return-to-new-yorks-jfk-airport-2648851299.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/10/business/united-airlines-jfk-flights.html

Are you seriously asking this question of why JFK over Newark? For starters the majority of NYers don’t live in Manhattan. I live in Brooklyn and would never consider crossing the Hudson for a flight. Why do that when JFK airport offers the world of options and its only 30 to 45 minutes away. United moving back to JFK is a smart business decision. For me personally, United is dead last in preference so this won’t affect my decision on who I fly with anyway.

Getting to/from EWR from anywhere on Long Island (which includes NYC Boroughs Brooklyn & Queens) requires crossing 2 rivers (as in a minimum of 2 often very congested bridges &/tunnels; some with high tolls) & then driving through at least one other NYC Borough (The Bronx, Manhattan or Staten Island). From Long Island’s suburban counties, Nassau & Suffolk, for most that means Long Island Expressway, Van Wyck Expressway, Cross Island Parkway, Northern/Southern State Parkways or Grand Central Parkway to 1 of 3 bridges, each expensive, & both requiring drives on often traffic clogged expressways (Cross Bronx/Major Deegan/Bruckner/Staten Island/BQE Expressways, anyone?) just to get to another bridge to cross the Hudson River (the toll for the Hudson River Crossings are charged 1-way eastbound from NJ into NY, but they run $16 cash; $13.75 peak/$11.75 off-peak w/EZPass) And you’d have to be flat out crazy to even think about trying to driving through Manhattan via any of the four “free” (59th Street/Ed Koch/Queensboro; Williamsburg; Manhattan; Brooklyn) Bridges & then plodding along in 5 MPH crosstown traffic just to spend more time snaking into the ramps leading into the Holland (downtown/lower Manhattan) or Lincoln (midtown, west of Times Square) Tunnels to get to Newark (unless very early on Saturday or Sunday [& major holiday except Thanksgiving] mornings). You just wouldn’t - unless you’re a Masochist (or a Sadist if you did that to others!), that is. And, fact is, while EWR is easier for those who are on the west side (like me!) for those who live on the East Side - & especially the UPPER East Side which is among the most affluent sections of NYC - JFK is by far much easier (& cheaper) to get by car/ride share than Newark, while JFK is still easier to get to/from from most points on the East Side, especially the further East one is (5th, Madison, Park, Lexington, 3rd, 2nd, 1st (& others East of 1st in some parts) Avenues than Newark will ever be once the 5 MPH crawl across Manhattan to either of the 2 Hudson River tunnels is factored in. (Or vice versa if arriving at EWR). As to mass transit, while personally, I find BOTH AirTrains at JFK & EWR airports to be VASTLY INFERIOR & an outright EMBARRASSMENT to a city that fancies itself the “Capital of the World” when compared to the 1-seat, 1-fare rail options found in some USA cities (Chicago, for example, has CTA “L” trains at both Midway & O’Hare airports while Washington, DC has the Metro at DCA) & especially when compared to say Hong Kong’s awesome Airport Express train, which takes just 24 minutes to get to/from Central on Hong Kong Island - a distance of ~25 miles/~40 km vs JFK’s ~15/~24 km or EWR’s ~14 miles/~22 km - for ~$15 USD to/from platforms literally steps away from the terminal, or of course the many world capitals that have exceptional public transit options (Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo, even London [Heathrow’s can be a bit of a walk - but Gatwick has lots of rail OPTIONS, too], just to cite but a few), if it’s a choice between the “LEAST AWFUL”/less crappy of the 2 exceptionally awful & crappy “Silly Little Trolleys” (aka our 3rd rate “AirTrains” - btw, the NY Daily News called the proposed LGA AirTrain the “Silly Little Trolley” last year in an editorial urging voters/taxpayers & government officials to *NOT* waste $2.5+ billion building - & that was long BEFORE Covid19 emerged), then the “winner” is JFK’s “Silly Little Trolley” if only because the ‘Trolley’ at EWR is prone to breaking down, & after that happened TWICE, with one incident having us trapped inside the tiny capsule on an hot day for about 30 mins between stations, & then dumped out at the furthest station from Terminal C (after boarding at the NJ Transit station) dragging our bags the rest of the way along/crossing busy roadways as we raced to the terminal to avoid missing our flight (my partner had Polio as a toddler & has reduced mobility, which only made that very long trek especially difficult & painful for him) so horrible & unreliable. In fact, the “Silly Little Trolley” (er AirTrain) at EWR is so bad, that after that last incident when it broke down, we won’t even consider using it anymore & instead take the Newark Airport Express bus since we live in Midtown West/Hell’s Kitchen anyway. But, make no mistake, sometimes they use very old buses & when they do, it can be a bumpy, diesel fume-y ride for that. So, JFK’s “Silly Little Trolley” is “better” than EWR’s - but that’s NOT saying much when considering the VASTLY SUPERIOR Raul options commonly found elsewhere around the world. And for $7.75 each way now, it’s hardly “cheap” for the nasty station at Jamaica with its 1-directional only escalators that SUCK if you’re heading in the “wrong” direction (especially for those with reduced mobility who do NOT require wheelchairs, but for whom steep steps with baggage are a no go). Lastly, as many others have already noted, parts of Brooklyn, Queens & many towns on Long Island are very affluent & as someone who grew up in one of them, & who worked at a travel agency (that’s still around!) for many years known for its affluent clientele (corporate & personal), including well known celebrities (then as now), for sure FEW, if any, could ever be “sold” on using EWR for their flights. As to terminals, doubtful for T8. T1 is partly owned by United’s anti-trust immunized joint venture partner, Lufthansa (& will remain so even after the proposed $13 billion JFK terminal redevelopment of/whenever that happens), so my best guess is that United would operate there (T1) with Delta predominant at T4 & JetBlue’s T5 being the only remaining option. If anything, the $13 billion JFK terminal redevelopment plan envisions the existing terminals 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 & 8 being consolidated into just 3 (large shopping malls with gates) er terminals, with T1 being controlled by the current owners, Terminal One Group Association - aka “TOGA” (which is a joint venture of Air France, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines & Lufthansa), T4 remaining controlled by JFK IAT/Schiphol with Delta Air Lines the predominant tenant & T5 remaining controlled by JetBlue. Of course, that’s all if/when the $13 billion terminal redevelopment obtains funding & gets underway beyond the modest expansion/renovation of AA’s T8 where BA was scheduled to move pre-Covid19 pandemic in Fall, 2022 is completed, with BA’s T7 & Delta’s underutilized T2 expected time be torn down if/when the JFK redevelopment is completed. As to aligned airlines, it would seem logical for Star Alliance carriers to consolidate at Lufthansa’s base at T1 - but who knows for sure with alliance airlines from all of the 3 major alliances scattered among JFK’s separate terminals, such as ANA being housed at T7, Asiana & SWISS at T4, or of course, Lufthansa & Austrian at T1 pre-pandemic. Or perhaps, Korean Airlines yet still at T1 while its anti-trust joint venture partner, Delta, is at T4 - which makes connections between those airlines as bad as changing terminals at London/Heathrow (). Ditto, of course, applies to ANY change of terminals at JFK (except perhaps between T2 & T4 where Delta had an airside bus pre-pandemic with T2 temporarily closed until further notice). Anyhow, while some suggest EWR is shunned simply because it’s in New Jersey, in the end while that may be a factor for some travelers, for most (especially those who live in NY Tri-State [NY, NJ, CT] region) it’s likely more a matter of accessibility to the nearest/quickest airport than anything else, with those who live/work on East Side of Manhattan, or Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau/Suffolk, Westchester & SW Connecticut [Stamford, Greenwich, etc.] likely to favor LGA/JFK over EWR & New Jerseyan’s/Rockland & Orange Counties west of the Hudson River likely time favor EWR over LGA/EWR. Sure, some (like me) may use all 3 airports, but that’s usually because there’s far more domestic flights under 1,500 miles on Delta operating at LGA than at JFK, while most beyond perimeter flights on Delta are at JFK & my partner prefers Delta as he has found it to consistently offer the best assistance as reduced mobility passenger. Meanwhile, with the company he works for more United centric & me having a pile of miles from our flights on UA together - or those I’ve flown solo, we also use EWR quite a bit, too, as it’s actually the closest & easiest airport for us be it by ride share or, as noted earlier, the sometimes fume-y & dumpy bus that stops a few blocks from our apartment (which is near the ramps to the Lincoln Tunnel). In a perfect world, if United were as good an airline as Delta is, dumpy bus & all we’d probably fly that airline via EWR more often than we do. But, with Delta far & away the much better airline, even if LGA & JFK are no where near as convenient for us as EWR is, the additional time & hassle required for us to use LGA & JFK usually is enough to make Delta the preferred carrier in our home. However, some of our United flights at good fares for domestic 1st have actually been quite good (pre-pandemic) in the post-Dr. Dao dragging era. So, as long as we can avoid UA’s awful economy (even E+ is bad compared to DL’s C+) EWR is a viable alternative to LGA & JFK on Delta. But, only when UA’s domestic 1st fares make it a worthwhile proposition as we flew enough in recent years to earn free baggage check (which is NOT an optional “perk”/“luxury” for my partner due to his reduced mobility) & advanced seat selection in the preferred rows (although my partner requires C+ for flights longer than 2 hours due to extreme cramping that otherwise occurs in the leg most impacted by Polio which has very limited independent mobility, which we lack at United. Besides, United’s E+ is not as attractive as DL’s C+ (or at least in pre-pandemic era). Anyhow, that’s our perspective on NYC’s 3-major airports. As to the point regarding UA’s return to JFK next year, most of the comments apply - except to a lesser extent that it’s just “snobbery” that EWR is in NJ instead of NY. Especially since we have also found the food & beverage options at UA’s terminal C at EWR (until recently anyway), vastly superior to LGA & certainly superior T1, T7 & even T8 at JFK. But, really, it’s for most, it’s more about geography & travel times/roadways than anything else. And with many companies having employees who live in: Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester & SW Connecticut, forcing them to use EWR for nonstop transcons is going to be a dealbreaker as for sure they’re so NOT going to want to undertake the multi-bridge/tunnel 2-river crossings required to get to/from EWR airport. Having done that once when I still lived on Long Island, it only takes doing that once to NEVER, EVER do that again. Yeah, it’s THAT bad!

Reasons why I never fly out of Newark: the monorail is unreliable, weekend service for the train is terrible, the terminals I end up in generally feel old and dumpy, and traffic can be a nightmare. With JFK’s Airtrain more reliable, the public transit time is easier to plan around. Although my top pick for short domestic flights will always be LGA.

United is returning to Terminal 7 with British Airways limited flights. Being T7 redevelopment is on hold and the Terminal will be there for the next five years United can get their footprint back in JFK. And would need limited support staff.