Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Fight Back Against United’s Newark Airport Congestion Claims

Spirit Airlines has a beef with United Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport. The discounter has long sought 16 peak-hour runway timings that have gone unused since Southwest Airlines left the airport in 2019, and it’s not taking the major airline’s renewed complaints lying down. “I think United is taking a lot of liberties to blame [us] for their operations at Newark,” Spirit Vice President for Network Planning John Kirby said. United has in recent weeks highlighted poor operations at Spirit, as well as JetBlue Airways, at Newark as having a negative affect on its own operations there. The way it sees it, the smaller competitors are the reason there are too many flights scheduled during peak times, and United is pushing the US FAA to do something about it. United’s broad arguments — that smaller competitors are a problem at congested airports — come from a well-worn playbook used by incumbent airlines the world over. Global airlines use similar arguments to defend their monopoly positions in airports from Frankfurt to Hong Kong and London Heathrow. By their measure, they have built up their slot positions over decades both with and without government help, and should not be forced to shrink simply because a new airline wants access. Story has more.<br/>