Chicago-based United Airlines suspends service to New York's JFK Airport

NEW YORK -- Chicago-based United Airlines is following through on its threat, announced earlier this month, to end operations at JFK Airport because federal regulators are not letting them operate more flights there.

The decision, announced Friday, is effective Oct. 29.

This is the second time United has pulled out of Kennedy, they also did so in 2016 and stayed out for five years. They resumed in 2021 during a change in travel dynamics during the pandemic.

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United is currently operating a skeleton schedule of four flights -- two daily roundtrips to San Francisco and two more to Los Angeles.

United told the FAA earlier this month that if they aren't able to expand, it doesn't make sense for them to operate out of the airport.

But the international access remains key to the airline, and it conceded the JFK move would be temporary, though it didn't specify how long the halt would be in effect.

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The 100 employees will be offered jobs at nearby airports.

United has robust operations at both LaGuardia Airport and Newark, which is a United hub.

The airline is scheduled to operate more than 12,000 roundtrip flights out of Newark this month and more than 1,000 flights out of LaGuardia.