Tucson gets another nonstop flight to New York City

Tucson is getting a new nonstop connection to New York City.

American Airlines will launch nonstop service to its hub at New York JFK on Oct. 7, offering one daily round-trip flight on 160-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The daytime flights are timed to give Tucson customers connecting options via American’s JFK hub.

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The service also gives Tucson its first nonstop link to New York City since 2008, when both JetBlue and Continental discontinued their flights to JFK and Newark, respectively, as the nation’s economy soured.

The Arizona Daily Star reports Tucson officials helped secure American’s JFK service with “roughly $3 million in revenue guarantees” and up to $550,000 in landing-fee waivers and marketing incentives.

As you might expect, Tucson airport officials lauded the high-profile route to New York.

“Air service is absolutely critical to our region’s economy,” Tucson Airport Authority chairman Tony Finley said, according to the Daily Star. “One of the best things about this is, this is not a red-eye flight. This flight will, unlike previous red-eye flights, coordinate with European flights” at JFK.

Beyond JFK, Tucson already has flights to four other American Airlines hubs: Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

The JFK route will be the Tucson's first new route since Alaska Airlines added new service to Portland, Ore., in 2011, according to Arizona Public Media. Once it launches, Tucson’s airport will have nonstop service to 18 destinations.

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