United Airlines is once again taking its Newark-versus-JFK argument straight to the streets of New York City on top of yellow taxi cabs.
United Brings Back Its NYC Taxi Ads To Make The Case For Newark
Starting today, United Airlines is relaunching its yellow cab advertising campaign in New York City, placing digital toppers on nearly 800 taxis that display real-time drive time comparisons between JFK and Newark Liberty International Airport.
The concept is simple and familiar. The digital displays show up-to-the-minute drive times from a taxi’s exact location to both airports, reminding passengers that Newark is often the faster option, especially during peak traffic. The campaign also cycles through cheeky messaging highlighting Newark and United’s hub there.
This is not a new idea. United ran a similar campaign back in 2017, using taxi toppers to needle JFK and reinforce the airline’s long-standing message that Newark can be the more efficient choice for many travelers. The ads were memorable precisely because they took advantage of a captive audience stuck in traffic…and also because you probably won’t see those ads in Brooklyn or Queens.
United says the campaign builds on what it describes as a “major operational turnaround” at Newark following disruptions earlier this year. According to the airline, Newark delivered its best operational summer on record and emerged as “the most on-time airport in the New York City area” during the recent Thanksgiving travel rush.
United currently operates more than 350 daily flights to over 160 destinations worldwide from Newark. Over the upcoming holiday travel period from December 18th through January 6th, United expects to carry more than one million passengers through EWR.
The JFK Backstory
The elephant in the room is that United still does not serve JFK.
That absence is not an accident, and it is not for lack of trying. United has struggled for decades to make JFK work in any meaningful way. The airline pulled out of JFK in 2015, conceding that it could not compete effectively against American and Delta at an airport where it lacked scale, slots, and a compelling network.
United made a brief return to JFK during the pandemic, when airport congestion evaporated, slot constraints loosened, and competitive dynamics were temporarily distorted. For a moment, it looked like a reset might be possible. United relaunched service with a small number of transcontinental flights using a premium-heavy 767-300, betting that premium demand on routes like Los Angeles and San Francisco could finally give it a foothold.
It didn’t last.
Operating just two daily flights to Los Angeles and two to San Francisco was never a viable long-term strategy at an airport like JFK, particularly against competitors offering far greater frequency and deeper connectivity. Without a broader network, JFK remained an expensive outstation and United once again walked away.
More recently, United has created an indirect link to JFK through its relationship with JetBlue, relying on the partnership to provide some degree of access to JFK-centric customers without committing its own metal to the airport. That arrangement has allowed United to stay (very) loosely relevant at JFK while continuing to concentrate its New York strategy at Newark.
Looking ahead, United has said it plans to return to JFK in 2027 as part of its “Blue Sky” partnership with JetBlue. Whether that return will look meaningfully different from past attempts remains an open question. United’s history at JFK suggests that unless it can establish real scale and connectivity, the airport will remain a difficult fit, no matter how clever the taxi ads are.
But once United does return to JFK these ads will quickly become irrelevant…
CONCLUSION
I liked this campaign in 2017 and I like it as we enter 2026, even as it is a painful reminder that United still does not serve JFK and its return to JFK between this iteration of the ad campaign and the last one ended in failure.
The real-time element of the campaign makes it effective. For New Yorkers who reflexively default to JFK, the message is designed to be informative. As to whether it changes entrenched airport preferences is another question. But as far as airline advertising goes, this is one of the more clever and locally relevant campaigns United runs and I’m not surprised to see it back.
Yea, no one wants to cross the GW in either direction unless it is in the middle of the night. Traffic on and off is always crazy.
Unless you’re waaaay up-town, or they’ve closed both the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, almost no one from the city goes up to GW to get to EWR.
1.39 million people in Nassau County, 2.7 million people in Brooklyn and 2 million people in Queens don’t necessarily consider EWR so while it’s closer to Manhattan, you’re not attractive to 6 million people.
Yes, you can do LGA but you need to go to another UA hub to get anywhere else.
But then again, JFK is such a mess these days that EWR is actually more attractive.
Oh please. First, for domestic the real comparison is to LGA. And if you are flying long haul would much rather be at JFK. No lounges at EWR TC. TB is a joke. Even the new TA is only so-so. I’ll take JFK every time. But if you live in Tribeca or West Village and can get to the Holland quickly… different story but that’s a smaller subset. Hi @1990.
‘That’s a bingo!” And thanks for thinking of me. Holland tunnel is mah boiiii.
Yes, LGA, all the way, for whenever there’s a nonstop route from there to where you’re headed. So many epic lounges at B (Amex, Chase, AirCanada, United, American, and soon C1 Landing) and C (Delta). The issue is that it’s distance limited, no meaningful long-haul or international. Wish there were better transit options to LGA, too, but, I guess the billions needed for an AirTrain extension were too much… to the Q70!
As to Newark, I’m less pessimistic; then again, I’ve kept all the premium cards, so Terminal C isn’t a burden, with their two refurbished and expanded UnitedClubs. Terminal B is just ‘okay,’ so long as you don’t intend on lounging, and it’s great if you’re flying La Compagnie, Singapore (which accesses British Airways lounge, not LH for some reason). I’ve enjoyed flying Porter (even without the lounge) from there as well for its flights to Billy Bishop (that racoon mascot gets me every time.)
When United pulled out of JFK originally I stopped flying them. Nobody wants to pick you up at Newark.
Eh, when the Holland tunnel and Pulaski Skyway is backed-up so bad that it takes 1.5-2 hours to get to EWR, it’s all about the same as the Beltway, QBE, and Van Wyck ‘going to hell.’ The key difference is that one can take the PATH or NJ Transit or Amtrak to Newark, then rideshare, bus, AirTrain, all probably a little faster than A-train or E-train or LIRR to Airtrain to JFK. One other difference, flat $70-80 fare to JFK in yellow-cab, whereas, EWR, no such arrangement. Overall, it’s less about which airport, and more about which price, route, service, status, lounge, etc. I’m not upset by Polaris or La Compagnie or Terminal A at EWR; and I’m pleased with D1, Chelsea and Soho at JFK. There’s something for everyone at each.
The real backstory is that EWR consistently rates as the least-like large airport in the country and UA’s operational meltdown at EWR last year is still very fresh in people’s minds. Sometimes, a year is enough after a major issue for a company to return to marketing but I doubt if this ad campaign will move the needle esp. given that AA and DL both clearly hit corporate accounts hard last year to move business over to LGA and JFK.
add in that UA is supposed to be trying to get gates at JFK as part of the B6 deal in a year and this ad campaign could well backfire.
Tim, I wouldn’t trash EWR too hard. Besides, Delta is running a decent operation there from the new Terminal A. The beautiful new SkyClub there is quite nice, too. Now that the runway construction is completed, it’s much better there. Yes, the FAA needs to hire more controllers, which would further alleviate operational delays.
I am just telling you what national airport surveys show.
EWR’s terminals are one thing but when you add on consistent delays, people who have an option are not as likely to choose EWR.
Remember, LGA is the primary airport in the NYC area for destinations inside the LGA perimeter while JFK is the primary airport for destinations outside the LGA perimeter.
UA and CO before has controlled 2/3 of EWR’s flights for decades; whatever operational reputation that EWR has is UA’s responsibility
They’re gonna have to redo those surveys now that much of the ‘struggles’ (runways, renovations, shutdown) are over. I remain a fan of all three major NYC-area airports, for different reasons. I’d much rather take them over whatever’s going on in SoFla, LA, Chicago, DC, TX, DEN, BOS, SEA, and yes, ATL, too.
Any link(s) to these airport surveys?
One subset is that people in Manhattan don’t want to use Newark is because of racism. Newark is associated with Black people.
I’m not sure that is correct…
derek, that is not correct, at all.
(I’m a current NYC resident, and I’ve worked in Newark.)
Viva UA! Viva EWR!