JetBlue gets FAA clearance for 4 daily O'Hare flights

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Oct 17, 2006 | by Bloomberg News

JetBlue Airways Corp. won approval to begin four daily flights at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, part of the company's strategy to add routes in the central United States.

JetBlue must start flights by Jan. 27, James Whitlow, a Federal Aviation Administration deputy chief counsel, said in an order dated Friday. Company spokesman Bryan Baldwin declined to say where JetBlue will fly from Chicago.

JetBlue, based in New York, needed FAA approval to begin service because the agency since November 2004 has capped O'Hare flights during peak periods to reduce congestion.

The approval gives JetBlue a foothold in one of the world's most important aviation markets. O'Hare is the world's second-largest airport by passengers, behind Atlanta's Hartsfield.

JetBlue requested permission for eight daily O'Hare flights last month and then trimmed the number to four after objections from the airport's two largest carriers, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines.

JetBlue, the eighth-largest U.S. carrier, is the largest airline at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. About a quarter of JFK's passengers travel on JetBlue, the company said last month.