Porter might lose landing slots for NYC travellers

American Airlines seeks to lease 15 landing slots currently held by Porter at Newark Airport

By Brian Iler, CommunityAIR –

In a report Jan 3, the Dallas Morning News says American Airlines is asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to let it lease 15 takeoff and landing slots at Newark Liberty International Airport to Virgin America starting on April 2.

Four of those slots (each slot is a daily right to land or take off from the airport) are currently leased by American Airlines to Porter, for rent of $10,000 per slot per month. Porter has about 20 slots in total at Newark.

While the lease for Porter’s slots expires in 2018, it appears the court could allow the lease to be set aside.

Slots are tight in an airport as busy as Newark: they are limited to 83 arrivals and departures per hour during peak flying time.

This is not good news for Porter, as Newark is an important destination for its business travellers. This follows three consecutive months of serious declines in its business. Is there light at the end of the tunnel for our waterfront?

Porter is limited to flying into Newark to serve New York City-bound travellers, as it does not have U.S. customs pre clearance at the Island airport.