The Boston To New York Market: What Does 2022 Look Like?

The New York to Boston air market is an important one for business travelers. A high-frequency, high-demand route, many airlines have experimented through the years with different kinds of products, offerings, aircraft, and more in an attempt to win over travelers. Next year, with multiple major airlines contesting in the market, there will be no dearth of options to choose from.

LaGuardia to Boston

LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is close to some of the major business centers in New York City and an airport known for its short-haul flights, including shuttle service to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). Previously, three major airlines used to fly the route: American Airlines, JetBlue, and Delta Air Lines. However, in 2022, there is set to be a major change on the route with American Airlines pulling out, but Delta is bulking up.

Data from Cirium shows that Delta and JetBlue are close when it comes to overall flights on this route. JetBlue has scheduled 312,000 seats between LaGuardia and Boston next year between January and October. The airline has outlined 73 flights per week between LaGuardia and Boston, with the typical leisure-oriented Saturday offering the fewest number of daily rotations.

On the other hand, Delta Air Lines has scheduled 374,711 seats on the route between January and October of 2022. The airline has scheduled 95 flights per week in January and February, which increases to 97 per week from March through October. Some of these flights are on smaller aircraft operated under the Delta Connection banner, while others are mainline-operated flights.

Noticeably, Delta Air Lines nearly doubled its overall seat count on the route in the latest schedule filing. It also grew its flight schedule between LaGuardia and Boston by 50%. This move comes after American Airlines announced it was ending service between the two airports. Delta will still be flying smaller schedules overall between the two airports, but JetBlue may also grow this route thanks to its partnership with American Airlines.

New York – JFK to Boston

New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is very well known around the world. Three airlines have scheduled flights between JFK and Boston next year. These carriers are American Airlines, JetBlue, and Delta Air Lines. All three of these airports also view JFK as a hub.

There are only 391,115 seats scheduled from January through October of next year between JFK and BOS, according to Cirium schedules. JetBlue has the greatest number of seats scheduled. It has 170,434 available on the route. In January and February, the airline has scheduled 56 flights per week. This drops to 34-35 flights per week by the summertime, though JetBlue may decide to bulk up its schedules on this route in the future. The primary aircraft on this route is the Embraer E190.

Delta takes the number two spot by seat count. The airline has scheduled 122,039 seats between January and October. The airline has scheduled 42 flights per week in January and February, which drops to 35 per week from March onwards. Most of these flights are scheduled onboard 76-seat regional jets, though there are some mainline operations scheduled.

American Airlines comes in third place by seat count, with 98,642 available between the same time period. Per week, the airline has scheduled 35 flights in January and February, seven in March, and 21 from April through October. The airline may add some more flights on this route, though it should be noted that, for now, the airline has scheduled its swanky 102-seat Airbus A321T to operate all flights between New York and Boston from March onwards.

American Airlines did load a schedule increase on the route for January and February. Depending on slot availability, it could extend that schedule through the summer. However, with the JetBlue partnership, the airline can already offer its customers a large number of operations between JFK and BOS.

Newark to Boston

Located in New Jersey, Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) is also a major airport in the New York City area. This is also a hotly contested route. JetBlue, Delta, and United Airlines all have scheduled flights from EWR to BOS in 2022. Cirium schedules show a whopping 570,708 seats scheduled next year.

JetBlue has scheduled 65,762 seats between the two airports. While Boston has been a major airport for the carrier, its growth in Newark is much more recent, but it intends to maintain its position as one of the top airlines at the airport. Until September, the airline has 14 flights per week scheduled between the two airports. From next fall, the airline has increased its flights to 21 per week. All flights are scheduled on the Embraer E190s that are popular on the shuttle flights to and from Boston.

Delta is not expecting to resume flights between the two airports until May. However, it has currently put 61,788 seats on the route. This is a tad shy of what JetBlue is offering. In May, Delta has scheduled 26 flights per week between the two cities. From June through October, the airline has put 33 flights per week in its schedule. All flights are scheduled on 76-seat regional aircraft.

Unsurprisingly, the largest airline flying between EWR and BOS is United Airlines, which has a whopping 443,158 seats scheduled next year. In January, United has put 65 flights per week between the two airports. This grows to 75 in February, a slight decrease to 70 in March, but 84 flights per week from April onwards. United has put a mix of aircraft on the route, including some flights on regional jets while others are operated with mainline aircraft.

United offering the most seats on this route is not surprising. While Delta and JetBlue also fly to Boston from LaGuardia and JFK, United only flies there from Newark. Delta’s overall seat count across all three major New York-area airports is far higher than what United offers out of Newark. However, while targeting some of the high-frequency business travelers, United also markets connections to Boston.

United Airlines is the only airline operating between New York and Boston that does not have a hub in Boston. As a result, it relies heavily on connections to get its passengers to Boston. United is likely to continue tweaking its operations between Newark and Boston as it takes more larger aircraft and uses them on the downtime to fly to Boston.

Source: https://simpleflying.com/boston-new-york-2022/