United Airlines New York

[hiss srq]

United is a shell of what it once was at JFK... Particularly in the 90's... I do not remember much about the airline in NY during this time. I did not pay much attention to them past drooling on the 744's from the customs lot as a kid. At their peak what cites did they serve from JFK and with what types? Just curious.... Thanks.

[flyguy1]

At one point I recall the following:
SEA, PHL, BOS, SJU, ORD, MIA, GRU, EZE, CCS, NRT, HKG, LHR

[lijk604]

Ryan, having lived it....
LAX / SFO - B767-200's & B767-300's
SEA - B757 then A320's
SJU - B757 Saturday only
ORD - fluctuated based on season DC-8/B727-100/B727-200 (late 80's) // B737-300 early 90's
LHR - B777-200
NRT - B747-400 continued to HKG then switched to B777-200 when the HKG nonstop was started.
HKG - B747-400 short lived
CCS - B757
EZE - B767-300 continued to MVD
GRU - B767-300 continued to GIG
----
IAD - Atlantic Coast (UAX) JS31/JS41
There was no service to PHL on mainline, that was short lived on Atlantic Coast (UAX) JS31/JS41.
----
(edit): almost forgot! Early 90's for about a year....DC10-30F!!!! ANC-NRT-TPE

[Idlewild]

UA was a major player at JFK. I remember when the DC-10's were grounded after the AA O'Hare tragedy. All I saw on the north side of JFK was a wall-to-wall bevy of #2 engine tails standing idle. I recall seeing more idle UA tails later on when they went on strike.

[T-Bird76]

It will be interesting to see what will become of UAL once the merger with CO is complete. They could move or reduce the PS Service to EWR which is much easier for business travelers to transit to then JFK. Of course I'm sure some Transcon service will still remain at JFK because of the feeds from the Star carriers.

[Art at ISP]

I remember taking UA's DC8-71 or -73 at least twice JFK-DEN circa 1984....they were a major player at JFK back when....and the 747SP to NRT was very special then as well...

[STT757]

While I do not see UA growing much if at all at JFK once they complete the merger with CO, I feel confident the PS service from JFK is safe. EWR-SFO and EWR-LAX will look very much like IAD-LAX and IAD-SFO, up to 10-12 daily of everything from a 737-800 up to 777s and even possibly 744s. For UA JFK will remain a O&D centric market for business travelers between NYC and LA/SFO, PS fills that role perfectly. UA's PS 757s hold about the same amount of passengers as CO's 737-500s, they don't have enough capacity for EWR-LAX/SFO which will now be hub-hub routes.

I wish UA will return to using their former cargo building at JFK which remains vacant, CO actually has a decent sized cargo operation out of JFK considering they don't even fly to JFK. They truck almost everything to EWR, it would be great if they could re-lease the modern UA cargo building that is currently unused.

CO recently (January) took over the former UA cargo building at EWR which was also abandoned, it's almost the same design and age as UA's at JFK.

Btw..

My Wife and I recently flew UA in First on their PS flights between JFK and SFO returning LAX-JFK, the flights were excellent. It's my opinion we need not be concerned about the flights/UA leaving JFK. They very popular and lucrative according to a Wall Street Journal article about the service , they (UA) are not going to drop a lucrative and popular operation.

[ISP Pilot]

Ryan, having lived it....
LAX / SFO - B767-200's & B767-300's
SEA - B757 then A320's
SJU - B757 Saturday only
ORD - fluctuated based on season DC-8/B727-100/B727-200 (late 80's) // B737-300 early 90's
LHR - B777-200
NRT - B747-400 continued to HKG then switched to B777-200 when the HKG nonstop was started.
HKG - B747-400 short lived
CCS - B757
EZE - B767-300 continued to MVD
GRU - B767-300 continued to GIG
----
IAD - Atlantic Coast (UAX) JS31/JS41
There was no service to PHL on mainline, that was short lived on Atlantic Coast (UAX) JS31/JS41.
----
(edit): almost forgot! Early 90's for about a year....DC10-30F!!!! ANC-NRT-TPE

CCS - A 767-200 LAX-JFK flight I was on was continuing on to CCS using the same aircraft
LHR - Also saw 767-300 flights as well
MCO - Don't remember the type used but remember that they flew this route for a short time

[lijk604]

CCS - A 767-200 LAX-JFK flight I was on was continuing on to CCS using the same aircraft
LHR - Also saw 767-300 flights as well
MCO - Don't remember the type used but remember that they flew this route for a short time

The 767-200 to CCS was most likely a one-off equip sub. There was never a scheduled 767 to CCS, from any station.
LHR, you are correct, when they had the 3x/daily the morning departure was a 767-300. Thanks for the reminder.
MCO - There was a brief period in time that UA wanted to make MCO a mini-hub, but it was very short lived. They did run a 767-300 JFK-MCO, with continuing service to GIG. That was before the GRU-GIG flight.

[ISP Pilot]

Also seem to remember CDG as well. Don't remember when or the equipment used though.

[lijk604]

CDG was always rumored to start, but it never did. IAD took that segment as well as the Germany flights.

[Ari707]

The NRT flights were at first on 747-200, the only 200's in ua's fleet at the time.

[lijk604]

The NRT flights were at first on 747-200, the only 200's in ua's fleet at the time.

They actually started the flight on the 747-SP in 1986 after the Pan Am purchase. Then they took delivery of two 747-200's, N151UA & N152UA in March & April of 1987, and after crew training, and proving runs those took over the route. The SP's did fill in every now and then, as with only two ships and a 14 hour flight, there were MX days, inspections, etc.

[Art at ISP]

Yes I recall there only being 2 747-200 in the fleet, but as you have corroborated, I specifically remember the route starting with the 747-SP. In fact I remember the inauguration of the JFK-NRT nonstop in 1975 or 1976 on Pan Am with the 747SP.

I was scheduled to fly JFK-NRT on the 200 in 1987--my colleague at Canon invited me to his brother's wedding in Yokohama, but the week before we left my brother passed away by his own hand.

I would have been happy even in coach back then--today I won't fly coach anything over 4 hours. Go figure......

[kevin323]

For a short while the 747-200s were also used at night as trainers for the USAF 747 crews. A/c would arrive from NRT and that night operate as trainer for a few hours then return for am NRT departure. Early on the 2 200s were homeported to JFK and serviced inside and out to look and operate as new. Crew polished cowls and at one point the striping along fuselage was repainted section by section during overnight maintenance. After those birds joined the general fleet they never were as clean.