Air Canada Quits JFK for Third Time, Bets Bigger on Newark and LaGuardia

Doubled jet fuel costs from the Iran conflict are forcing Canada’s flag carrier to cut its lowest-yield New York route — while quietly expanding everywhere else in the metro area.

Air Canada will halt all service to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on June 1, citing doubled jet fuel costs tied to the Iran conflict as it shifts capacity to Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia airports.

The decision affects four daily JFK rotations — three from Toronto Pearson International Airport and one from Montréal–Trudeau International Airport — and runs through a tentative Oct. 25 resumption date. Despite the headline exit, Air Canada’s total New York metropolitan footprint will increase by a net 0.3%, driven by an 11% expansion at Newark and a 16% surge at LaGuardia over the same June-through-October window.

An Air Canada spokesperson said the energy shock left the carrier little choice. “As jet fuel prices have doubled since the start of the Iran conflict, some lower profitability routes and flights are no longer economic, and we are making schedule adjustments accordingly,” an Air Canada spokesperson said..

Market data from Argus Media show the average price for a gallon of jet fuel reached $4.32 in mid-April 2026, up from $2.50 the day before the conflict began, with some regional prices touching $4.60 per gallon. The Strait of Hormuz blockade severely restricted crude oil and refined petroleum flows before partially lifting following a 10-day ceasefire agreement, though market volatility persists. International Energy Agency Director Fatih Birol has described the situation as the “largest energy crisis” facing the global economy, warning that European jet fuel supplies may last only another six weeks without the restoration of supply routes.

Newark becomes the network anchor

Air Canada will operate approximately 4,210 flights into Newark between June and October — serving five Canadian cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax — with aircraft ranging from the Airbus A220-300 and Boeing 737 MAX 8 to regional jets and turboprops. The 11% year-over-year increase reflects Newark’s strategic value as the fortress hub of United Airlines, a Star Alliance partner. That relationship gives Air Canada passengers seamless connections to United’s domestic feed, reaching non-hub cities such as Indianapolis, Kansas City and Nashville that JFK’s Terminal 7 could not adequately support.

LaGuardia doubles down on business travelers

At LaGuardia, where Air Canada operates out of Terminal B following a multi-billion-dollar redevelopment featuring 16 lanes of expedited security and a Maple Leaf Lounge, the carrier will run 6,010 flights over the same period. A key driver is new service from Billy Bishop Toronto City Centre Airport, which offers a 60-to-90-minute transit advantage over the Toronto Pearson-to-LaGuardia corridor for time-sensitive business travelers. That route is operated exclusively with the De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprop, whose short take-off and landing capabilities make it uniquely suited for urban airports with constrained infrastructure.

Underpinning the efficiency push is the Airbus A220-300, powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1500G geared turbofan engines, which delivers 25% lower fuel burn per seat compared with previous-generation regional jets — a decisive advantage when fuel costs are running at $4.32 per gallon. The Boeing 737 MAX 8, equipped with CFM International LEAP-1B engines and advanced split-tip winglets, handles higher-demand sectors including the Calgary-to-Newark and Vancouver-to-Newark corridors.

Industry-wide belt-tightening

Air Canada is far from alone in responding to what IEA Director Fatih Birol has called the “largest energy crisis” facing the global economy. WestJet, Canada’s second-largest carrier, reduced capacity by 1% in April and 3% in May 2026, and has suspended 16 Canada-U.S. routes, including direct flights from Winnipeg to Atlanta and Nashville. Delta Air Lines executives said higher fuel costs would add approximately $2 billion to the airline’s second-quarter expenses. Spirit Airlines is reportedly seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency federal funding to prevent effective liquidation. United Airlines has implemented targeted reductions amounting to roughly a 5% capacity cut.

Canadians pull back from U.S. travel

The JFK suspension also reflects a structural shift in Canadian travel behavior. Statistics Canada and Royal Bank of Canada data show approximately 29.1 million Canadian residents returned from the United States in 2025, a 25.4% decline from 2024. That contraction has extended into 2026, with air return trips falling 12.8% year-over-year in January, part of a contraction that extended through February – the 13th consecutive month of year-over-year decline. A Leger survey found 67% of Canadians cite the political climate as a deterrent to U.S. travel, 61% point to trade tensions and tariffs, and 59% say they no longer feel safe traveling to the United States. The Winnipeg Airports Authority attributed an 8% dip in its own transborder traffic specifically to tariffs and geopolitical tensions.

As Canadians pull back from U.S. destinations, domestic travel has surged. Tourism GDP grew an annualized 4.8% in the fourth quarter of 2025, and 67% of Canadians planning a spring 2026 trip intend to stay within Canada, up from 49% the previous year.

JFK’s recurring role as the expendable piece

It is the third time Air Canada has exited JFK in roughly 14 years. The carrier launched Toronto-JFK service in May 2012 as part of a plan to serve all three major New York airports, withdrew in 2016 due to inconvenient arrival and departure timings following schedule changes at the crowded airport, then relaunched both Toronto-JFK and Montreal-JFK in March 2023 using Embraer E175 aircraft. As recently as January 2025, the airline announced plans to relocate to the new Terminal 6. The 2026 fuel shock has again made JFK the piece of the network that can be dropped to protect the broader regional operation.

Affected travelers holding Air Canada tickets to JFK for the June 1 through Oct. 25 period will be contacted by the airline with rebooking options, typically involving LaGuardia or Newark. The Montreal-based carrier, the only four-star rated international network airline in North America by Skytrax, said it continues to monitor global fuel market developments and has not ruled out further schedule adjustments if the Middle East ceasefire fails to stabilize long-term kerosene supplies.