Even the most draconian proposal — to reinstate flight limits to ease the bottlenecks at Kennedy — might backfire, industry analysts say, because airlines would end up shifting flights to Newark Airport, which is already strained.
They were also designed to deflect threats by federal transportation officials to reinstate flight limits at Kennedy if the airlines and the Port Authority, which runs the three airports, do not reduce delays.
Singapore Airlines, which like Cathay is highly oriented toward premium travel, last month said it was reinstating some flights and would add Munich to its network starting in March.
The airline said it was canceling 170 flights Friday and another 230 scheduled for Saturday and would not reinstate the flights even if a strike is averted.
The airline has filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which could potentially reinstate the flights.
The airline is also reinstating two weekly flights from Chicago starting Nov. 9.
But serious questions about validity testing, which is now optional, at the employer's discretion, were raised in September after Delta Air Lines agreed to reinstate four flight attendants and a pilot whom it fired last year for failing validity tests.
Finally, at the age of 50, he was reinstated to flight status and named himself as part of the crew of Skylab 4 that rendezvoused with the Russians in July , 1975
Keen to recoup losses, domestic and international carriers are not reinstating many of the flights they had to cut last fall.
It's unlikely that United will reinstate all the flights anytime soon, but it should restart cancelled evening routes.
