Originally Posted by
Andy
At the time of JBLU's creation, JFK was an underutilized airport which was used almost exclusively for international flights.
JBLU got a sweetheart deal with the Port Authority (at the blessing of Mayor Giuliani) as part of a deal to lower airline ticket prices. I even remember Giuliani making a comment along the lines that NYers' air service was like getting hamburger at steak prices.
The congestion that you mention wasn't at the airport level; it was all of the arriving and departing traffic along the east coast. I haven't turned a wheel for quite a while so I don't know if they've worked things out but I've spent plenty of time sitting in a conga line at PHL/EWR because all of the airspace along the east coast was saturated.
It was not an underutilized airport. It was the international airport of New York. When the international flights are arriving and leaving, the airport can't handle it. It was hardly used in the morning and still is like that. When Jetblue started, almost all of its flights were in the morning. Once established, they pushed for slots at night. There were none so the city created them.