Atlantic City Airport to Lose United Flights

More sad news for Atlantic City today: Following the closure of four casinos in less than a year, air lift to the New Jersey coastal city was dealt a blow when United Airlines announced that it would no longer fly there from its Chicago and Houston hubs effective December 3.

As the Wall Street Journal noted, those two cities have been the only destinations served by United from Atlantic City, and the pullout will leave the small regional airport with Spirit Airlines as its only tenant.

The Press of Atlantic city said that both the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey & South Jersey Transportation Authority "urged the airline" to reconsider its decision, but are also working with other airlines to bring new flights to Atlantic City. 

As the Journal notes, it was roughly one year ago when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced a deal to bring United to Atlantic City by predicting that new commercial-airline service would help the casino city “grow and prosper.” Since that time, four casinos have closed, costing thousands of jobs. The Showboat Casino closed on, August 31; Revel and Trump Plaza closed in September and the Atlantic Club closed in January. The Trump Taj Mahal may close by the end of the year, and as we noted in September, its closure would bring the casino job losses in the city to more than 8,000 in 12 months.