British Airways To Launch New US-Europe Direct Carrier

Open skies... but a closed ramp? Plans in the works by British Airways to spinoff a new airline between Europe and New York may be jeopardy, due to the Federal Aviation Administration's desire to curb traffic at congested John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The London Times reports the FAA will soon start talks with several foreign airlines, including BA, to attempt to convince those carriers to voluntarily reduce flights to JFK -- much as the agency tried to do last week with domestic carriers, with decidedly mixed results.

As ANN reported, in a two-day meeting last week the FAA and Department of Transportation attempted to convince the airlines to agree to voluntary restrictions on flights at JFK, to curb delays and overscheduling. DOT proposed a cap of 80 flights per hour during most periods, with a 30-minute maximum of total flights at 44, and the 15-minute maximum at 24 flights. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says JFK handles at least 100 flights an hour on some days.

The proposal was met with significant resistance from several airlines, though Delta and JetBlue did later say they would shift some flights away from busy periods at the airport.

British Airways plans to increase flights between London Heathrow and JFK next year, after new "Open Skies" legislation takes effect. The airline also plans to launch a new airline, offering direct flights between Europe and the East Coast of the US. BA hasn't yet announced routes for the new carrier, though may presume JFK would be the natural choice, as the carrier already has its own terminal there.

"We have not specified the destination for the new airline, but New York is the obvious destination," a British Airways spokesman said. "There would be an impact on BA [if restrictions were enforced], and we watch developments with interest. We would like this issue to be resolved as soon as possible. We have tickets to sell."

An FAA spokesman told the Times the agency would impose limits at JFK if airlines hadn't addressed the problem to its satisfaction by mid-December. The IATA advised airlines looking to add service to JFK, to take a good hard look at off-peak hours in order to avoid those forced restrictions.

"Under a preliminary review of the schedule submissions for summer 2008, the FAA notes that there are proposed schedule increases by domestic carriers and foreign flag carriers," the trade association said. "These proposed schedules will result in a significant increase in operations at JFK. While JFK has available capacity for additional flights during some periods of the day, certain hours are currently beyond capacity and would only get worse if the schedules were implemented as proposed . . . Carriers with new flights planned for peak hours should consider alternative schedules, especially for those planned in the late afternoon and evening hours."

"We are very concerned that they [the FAA] will cap services in and out of JFK," an IATA spokesman added. "Nothing is finalized but the threat is there. Because the US has failed to grow its infrastructure, it is trying to penalize airlines and passengers. But, quite clearly, the status quo is not working."

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.iata.org, www.panynj.gov