United Airlines’ return to JFK doesn’t seem to be going quite as planned. Well, at least not as United planned, though personally this is kind of how I saw things working out…
United JFK routes downgraded from 767 to 757
In the spring of 2021, United Airlines returned to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK), after cutting service back in 2015. United pulled out of JFK at the time so that it could instead focus on its hub at Newark Airport (EWR), and the airline believed it could get most passengers to travel out of EWR instead of JFK.
That didn’t work out, so earlier this year United made a big splash with returning to JFK:
United has just revealed a major schedule change, which will very much see the airline changing its passenger experience at JFK. As of early October 2021, all United Airlines JFK flights will be operated by 757-200s rather than 767-300s.
While this doesn’t represent a capacity decrease (it actually represents a slight increase), this is a massive downgrade to the passenger experience.
For context, United’s premium 767-300ERs that currently operate these routes feature 167 seats, including:
- 46 business class seats (these are the new Polaris seats, in a 1-1-1 configuration)
- 22 premium economy seats (these are in a 2-2-2 configuration, and similar to domestic first class)
- 99 economy seats (these are in a comfortable 2-3-2 configuration)
Meanwhile United’s 757-200s that will soon operate these routes feature 169 seats, including:
- 16 business class seats (these are much older seats in a 2-2 configuration)
- 153 economy seats (these are in a 3-3 configuration, which isn’t nearly as comfortable)
My take on United’s JFK aircraft downgrades
I’m not surprised by this change, but am also kind of wondering what United is thinking at this point.
On the one hand, the reason United seemed to launch JFK flights this…