Ready to fly? Airlines are gearing up
It’s been over three months
AIRPORT VOICE, JUNE 2020 13
since the aviation world
crashed. The Covidvirus hit
every aviation sector and paralyzed
the flight industry.
Public use of this form of
transportation plummeted by
more than 90% leaving many
companies close to bankruptcy
as our country slowly
recovers.
With the flattening of the
spread of illness, the ability
to go out , the health and
subsequent safety measure
of the passenger airlines and
resumption of some back to
work, we are now seeing an
uptick in passenger flights
both domestically and internationally.
Uptick is the key
word.
The U.S, and China are still
quarrelling over the number
of flights each country will allow.
This impacts state owned
Chinese airlines that typically
fly into JFK Airport. The
number of domestic flights is
increasing faster than international
because of border issues,
however more and more
flights begin each week.
No one really knows the
rate of recovery nor actual
numbers of passengers expected
to fly over the summer,
but terminals and airlines are
gearing up for the increase to
make sure that their passengers
and workers are safe.
Following is some information
from terminals at the airport.
These flights are subject
to change at any time so please
contact each airline website
for updated information.
Not all airlines and terminals
were able to provide this
information at time of printing.
JFK Terminal One.
Korean, Air France, Alitalia,
Air China, Saudi and
China Eastern are running
some flights in June.
Japan Air Lines may bring
back 1-2 flights a week in June.
Lufthansa operates out
of Newark connecting with
United but nothing at JFK
now.
Brussels resumes July 13
and Viva Aerobus will be late
June or early July
Turkish Airline had repatriation
and cargo flights,
with passenger service flights
resuming in July.
JFK Terminal 4
Current limited passenger
flights by Asiana, KLM, Delta
& AeroMexico.
Scheduled for July are
Volaris, Singapore, Virgin,
Etihad, LATAM. Eqypt
Air,Avianca, China, Uzbekistan,
Copa, Westjet, Caribbean
and AirEuropa,.
No timeline for Eastern,
Xiamen, China Southern, Kenya,
South African, Air India,
Hainan and Kuwait.
ELAL, VS, Emirates,
Huinan, CZ have been flying
repatriation flights off and on
to bring stranded passengers
back to their countries.
June service begins from
Virgin Atlantic, Swiss, ELAL,
Air Serbia, and Emirates.
Delta (DAL) Delta
has 42 daily departures
planned for July, up from
25 daily departures this
month. New international
service in July includes
f lights from JFK to Athens
and Lisbon. Delta
also extended its distancing
policies, including the
empty middle seats and
capacity restrictions in
all of its cabins, through
September 30.
JFK Terminal 8
American Airlines is expanding
domestic service at
both LaGuardia and JFK.
American Airlines (AAL)
is seeing “improving demand
for air travel,” the company
said , prompting it to plan a
sizable increase in flights for
July. American will fly 55%
of its normal domestic schedule
next month — a huge jump
from the 20% of normal that it
flew in May.
AA is planning the return
of London Heathrow
f lights Independence Day.
This is still subject to England’s
14 =day quarantine
restriction.
“We’re seeing a slow but
steady rise in domestic demand,”
Vasu Raja, American’s
SVP of network strategy
When including international
flights, American’s total July
2020 schedule is just 40% of
what it flew last year in the
same month. The airline has
gutted its international flight
schedule for July to just 20%
of normal because of restrictions
and quarantine policies
that are preventing travelers
from flying.
Finnair and Qantas will resume
in July or August. Ethiopia
flights are not yet established.
Newark-Terminal B
June begins service for Air
India, ELAL and SAS.
July adds Austrian, Svianca,
Emirates, Eurowings,
Iceland Air, LOT Polish, Aer
Lingus, Porter Airlines
Newark-Terminal C
United-June 60 flights /
42 cities increases to July 115
flights / 61 cities. Caribbean
destinations such as Aguadilla,
Aruba, Montego Bay,
Nassau, Punta Cana, Santiago
and Santo Domingo.
United CEO Scott Kirby
recently said the company is
aiming to bring back a quarter
of its international schedule to
include Dublin (4x/week) and
Delhi (pending government
approvals) and increasing Tokyo
(NRT) to daily. Domestically,
resume non-hub service
to Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego
and Seattle
LaGuardia
United-In April only flew
2 daily flights (down from 41
a year prior), now increased
to 4 daily flights in May and
June and are now planning
10 flights for July. In July, restoring
and increasing flights
to Denver (1/day), Dulles ( 2/
day), Houston (3/day), Chicago
(4/day).
Many carriers are continuing
to waive change fees
for tickets and offer passengers
free rebooking if a given
flight is getting too crowded.
This service varies by airline
and my be effective through
September.