United Airlines has quietly announced a slate of new domestic routes for summer 2026, but the most interesting part of the expansion is not the seasonal leisure flying out of the Midwest or East Coast. It’s what United is doing at its competitive Los Angeles hub.
United Airlines Adds New Domestic Routes For Summer 2026, With A Notable Push At LAX
United is adding a mix of year-round and seasonal domestic routes for summer 2026, including several new nonstop markets from Los Angeles that further underscore the carrier’s intent to remain a serious player at LAX. The news was revealed today by Patrick Quayle, United’s SVP of Global Network Planning and Alliances.
While United still trails American and Delta in overall LAX scale, this latest batch of routes shows that United is willing to compete for business at LAX. Let’s explore the new LAX routes first.
The New Los Angeles 2026 Routes
United is adding the following nonstop routes from Los Angeles:
- Columbus, Ohio (CMH) – daily, starting March 29 (year-round)
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (PIT) – daily, starting March 29 (year-round)
- Kansas City, Missouri (MCI) – daily, starting April 6 (year-round)
- Portland, Maine (PWM) – seasonal Saturdays, June 27 – September 19
Three of these routes are year-round daily services, which is telling. United is not treating them as summer experiments.
United has not yet published schedules, aircraft types, or fares for these new routes.
How Competitive Are These Markets?
On paper, these are not obvious high-volume leisure or business routes. They are also competitive.
- Los Angeles – Columbus is served by American Airlines
- Los Angeles – Pittsburgh is served by American Airlines (Breeze Airways recently suspended its nonstop route)
- Los Angeles – Kansas City is served by Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines
Los Angeles to Portland, ME is the most niche of the additions and will run for the relatively short summer season. This is particular route is aimed at premium leisure travelers who value nonstop service and are less price-sensitive. Competition here is limited, and United is likely betting that even once-weekly service can perform well during peak summer demand.
What This Says About United At LAX
United’s LAX strategy has never been about matching American or Delta flight-for-flight. Instead, it has focused on carving out defensible niches and leveraging MileagePlus to keep high-value customers from defecting. These new routes should fit the model well. They are differentiated enough to avoid brutal fare wars, and well-suited to United’s fleet and network structure.
It’s also notable that United is committing daily service to several of these routes rather than testing the waters with limited frequencies. Only time will tell, but as an LA resident, I like that United is investing in my home airport and I particularly appreciate the Pittsburgh route, which is a city I fly to often.
Other New Domestic Routes
Beyond LAX, United is also adding a variety of seasonal routes, including:
- Denver (DEN)
- Albany, New York (ALB)
- Bangor, Maine (BGR)
- Chattanooga, Tennessee (CHA)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Cody, Wyoming (COD)
- Portland, Maine (PME)
- Houston (IAH)
- Burlington, Vermont (BTV)
- Hartford (BDL)
- Spokane, Washington (GEG)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Portland, Maine (PME)
- Washington D.C. (IAD)
- Halifax, Nova Scotia (YHZ)
- Quebec City, Quebec (YQB)
CONCLUSION
United’s summer 2026 route additions are interesting, but the real takeaway is the continued investment in Los Angeles.
By adding nonstop service from LAX to Columbus, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Portland, Maine, United is reinforcing its strategy of competing where it makes sense (there are still no Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, or Portland, Oregon flights), without throwing money at competitors’ hubs where it cannot compete on schedule.
Another smart move from Scott Kirby & Co… And it looks like there’s more to come.
@Güntürk Üstün, Another smart move from Scott Kirby & Co… And it looks like there’s more to come.
Agreed, but Edward Herman Bastian is just a tad more conservative. From Delta’s earnings call. And I agree the UA F/As deserve and look forward to them getting an industry-leading contract.
Andrew G. Didora, Analyst, BofA Securities, Inc. Q
That makes sense. And when we think about kind of this free cash flow going forward, when we think about the CapEx side of the equation, do you have any step up in CapEx coming over the next few years maybe particularly because of the new Boeing order from this morning? Anything there to think about? Thanks.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Edward Herman Bastian, Chief Executive Officer & Director, Delta Air Lines, Inc. A
Andrew, this is Ed. No, we’ve been very consistent over the last decade of CapEx in that $5 billion, some years a little lower, some years a little higher range. And while clearly there could be a one-off, maybe a year with a little bit more. Broadly speaking, we’re very disciplined about that.
And I think one of the real exciting opportunities for Delta when you look at where our leverage ratio is, where it’s going, the continued free cash flow generation, and I said on the – on CNBC this morning, I think the most tangible return we can generate for our shareholders is that free cash flow opportunity.
And as the balance sheet continues to be de-levered, it’s going to be even more returning possibilities for our shareholders. It’s not going to go into starting to try to get on a big growth spurt. That’s not an answer that – we’ve seen people try that in the past, that never ends up well.
Why would the United flight attendants get an “industry leading contract” when they are the last union to settle and doing so would only saddle UA with uncompetitive costs at least for the next four years, and longer if history is any guide?
More spokes on the hubs, more market penetration, more profitability. The 100 or so incoming new narrow body aircraft in 2026 allow this kind of growth at UA.
this is why UA’s profits will never meet their projections.
LAX-PIT and CMH are nothing but pi78ing matches with AA. It might hurt AA but it will do nothing to help UA.
DL and WN are operating mainline aircraft and the market is still not that great for a 3rd player with an RJ.
UA will overflow multiple hubs for several more of these routes – which asks why such long thin connecting markets don’t work over UA’s existing hubs.
and the rest are heavily leisure.
maybe UA decided that AA really will survive the onslaught at ORD.
Just in time for that new CMH terminal, expected 2029, right @This comes to mind?
Tim, I’m confused. Should UA only add flights that nobody else serves? DL and AA can overfly hubs (i.e. SLC) but UA shouldn’t?
UA has plenty of data to know how many pax they’re currently routing over hubs and how much demand is there for a new nonstop?
Are all of DL’s flights from AUS also “pi78ing” matches? Many of those flights also overly DL hubs and they’re almost all in competition with existing service.
DL, adding a flight from LAX to HKG, becoming the sixth flight in the market with no name recognition in HKG, only a record of starting and canceling service there multiple times, while also starting three flights to ORD against dozens of existing flights to CHI from other carriers, while also overflying a hub, are different from UA competitive moves how?
Mark,
AA and UA are going for each other’s throats in ORD and now all of the sudden LAX to PIT and CMH are attractive?
This isn’t about UA all of a sudden discovering new markets where there is a great promise.
It is solely about Scott Kirby’s inability to control his raging hormones and so he uses UA as his personal weapon.
And, no, AA and DL don’t overfly 3 hubs to get to the complete opposite corner of the country. and, again, if UA’s hubs are so great, why can’t they carry traffic from one-third of the country to the other two thirds?
as for LAX-HKG, DL is making far more money including on a per seat mile basis across the Pacific than UA. When you are making the most money in the US industry, you can VERY SELECTIVELY add new markets that matter.
remember, we have been hearing for years about how bad DL’s TPAC network is but it makes more than half of what UA makes flying the Pacific but flying half the capacity.
It was always a given that DL would decide to start taking on UA across the Pacific while UA would find it harder and harder to add new routes where it can make money.
Let us know how well UA is doing financially after next Tuesday but they need to report a $2.7 billion profit for the third quarter in order to MATCH DL’s earnings for 2025. Since UA has only reported $2.3 billion in earnings for the first 3 quarters of 2025, I think we can easily count out the possibility of UA getting anywhere close to DL’s level of profitability.
When you are more profitable, you can do things that less profitable airlines can’t do.
That is precisely the logic UA is trying to use on AA and DL is using it on UA.
LTD, “And, no, AA and DL don’t overfly 3 hubs to get to the complete opposite corner of the country.”
JFK/BOS-SFO, overflies DTW, MSP & SLC
now tell us, simpleton, the size of the LAX and SFO to PWM market compared to LAX and SFO to BOS.
we’ll wait.
UA desperately needs to keep its ASMs growing so, of course, will fly multiple routes to Maine including from the other side of the country – despite the fact that they could have flown to Maine from closer hubs if they had workable and functioning hubs.
$2.7 billion is what UA has to do to beat DL for 2025.
Not a chance it will happen.
UA will once again be relegated to a distant #2 for 2025 and 2026 and 2027….
let the gnashing of teeth begin anew
You never mentioned the size of the city. You, Lying Tim Dunn said, “And, no, AA and DL don’t overfly 3 hubs to get to the complete opposite corner of the country.” which is clearly incorrect. BOS/JFK overflies DTW, MSP & SLC.
This much like your blatant lie yesterday when you said, “feel free to read what DL execs have said about the MRO deal. Delta has said that their MRO will generate $5 billion in revenue at 20% margins. Just because you can’t find it doesn’t mean it isn’t real.”
Delta CFO Dan Jenki actually said on the earnings call was, “I think this is a business that we are excited to see it cross the $1B mark ($826M for 2025) and one that we continue to hold out to see it as a 2, then getting to 2 and then getting to $3B top line and that it can continue to grow. This is a business where it is in a position that it is in the high single digits (margin) and it should be in the mid-teens.”
That might be your biggest lie as your claim represents a 505% increase in revenue and a 1,233% increase in profit for the Delta MRO in just “a couple of years.”
What you say or claim is obviously meaningless.
Tim, UA makes more money from its airline operations than DL because they have the routes that generate more revenue.
Their network planning team, combined with their hub structure, are the envy of other airlines.
UA is taking delivery of 100 more planes just in 2026, on top of the hundreds of planes over the last few years.
That is why UA can add routes like this. While AA and DL have to neglect one hub in order to fund another, or go RJ-heavy in a city like AUS, UA can go mainline in multiple cities.
DL is a distant number two in SEA and AUS, yet they’re making a go of it without any criticism from you. Those stations are subsidized by more profitable hubs and credit card agreements, but that’s what they’re doing.
Route and fleet additions are what we, as industry enthusiasts, love to see, yet you always seem so down on them. I don’t understand it.
and yet, Mark, UA runs a credit card operation that clearly underperforms DL’s and could run an MRO, but don’t.
Funny how you think that excluding the businesses that UA doesn’t do as well as DL does makes UA better.
and, let’s not forget that UA is saving hundreds of millions of dollars per year in lower labor costs by underpaying its FAs and mechanics…IOW, UA”s labor costs are artificially low and everyone that is remotely objective understands that they will go up.
UA needs to make $2.7 billion just in the 4th quarter to tie DL in 2025 earnings… Since UA only earned $2.3 billion in the first 3 quarters of 2025, it is a given that UA will be a distant #2 in earnings for 2025.
Do you know how easy it is to play you UA fannuts that can’t stand to admit that UA is not #1.
No rational company exists to produce the most capacity; they exist to produce the most profits for their owners – and yet UA repeatedly fails to do that and manages to convince you that the testosterone driven strategies from UA execs that can’t admit that they really don’t have it all figured out are all that matters.
I have fun on evenings like this busting your chops.
Please don’t let up, Mark. You really are an easy target
LTD says, “businesses that UA doesn’t do as well as DL”
Like MRO that you claim are going to grow 505%/1,233% in a couple of years? You’re right lying Tim. No airline has any business like that. Not even Delta as it turns out.
You’re not even good at lying. Too funny.
Don’t let up because I’m an easy target? Huh?
Thank you for reminding me that you take all of this so personally and that you resort to personal attacks when facts are pointed out to you. It reminds me of why you have been suspended from blogs and why some of the most respected analysts have criticized you. With all that in mind, what really is the point in engaging you?
At least we don’t have hear you go on about DL’s superiority in NYC, now that UA has reinstated the temporary cuts and data shows UA making significantly more revenue than DL from its efficient crown jewel hub of the east coast.
Go ahead and have the last word. You make this exhausting and not enjoyable.
you and rebel,
you mean the MRO contracts that UA can’t make work so it will either directly or indirectly send its engines to DL to be overhauled at 20% margins – will result in the transfer of hundreds of millions per year from other US airlines including UA to DL.
Just because you can’t find the growth estimates that DL put out for Delta Tech Ops doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
and, yes, UA runs a credit card business – and it trails DL by quite a bit.
AA didn’t fire its credit card and loyalty business and hire people that had been fire from other companies; UA trails DL. as hard as it is for you to grasp, UA’s massive growth plans aren’t working out like they were planned.
and that is before they have to divert scores of new aircraft deliveries to replace PW 777s or risk a certain engine failure that will ground the fleet.
and pay more for labor which UA execs have said will happen in 2026.
You two are both just wind up toys because you can’t admit that UA is #2 and will be for quite some time to come. Your egos are so wrapped up in UA’s defeat of everyone else that you can’t and won’t see the world for what it is.
THAT is why I have so much fun with you two – because even UA’s execs don’t believe the non-sense you two spew.
LTD says, “you mean the MRO contracts that UA can’t make work so it will either directly or indirectly send its engines to DL to be overhauled at 20% margins – will result in the transfer of hundreds of millions per year from other US airlines including UA to DL.
Just because you can’t find the growth estimates that DL put out for Delta Tech Ops doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
Then by all means show us your mysterious evidence and please tell the Delta CFO because he is obviously unaware of your nonsense.
Duane Pfennigwerth, Analyst, Evercore ISI Q
“Congratulations again. And then, just to switch gears on MRO, maybe, Dan, you’re providing increased transparency. Can you speak a little bit about the outlook for that segment? Revenue growth margin expansion, and if there are any capital commitments embedded in the CapEx outlook for this year? ”
Thank you for taking the questions.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Daniel C. Janki, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Delta Air Lines, Inc.
“Sure, Duane. Thank you. Quite optimistic about the MRO business. I think they had a really good, 2025. Great commercial wins, building the backlog. I think this is a business that we’re excited to see across the $1 billion mark, and one that we continue to hold out and see it as a $2 billion. Then getting to $2 billion, then getting to $3 billion of top line that it can continue to grow.
This is a business that, where it’s positioned, it’s high-single digit margins today. It should be mid-teens and one that we’ve – we have fed it capital. But it’s one of those things that you just have to consistently stay after as it relates to both shop capacity, but also repair capability. And how you think about it, it’s something that Delta team is building off a really strong maintenance capability, and that we can extend the third party.
So, we’re quite excited about it. We do think it is one of those elements that truly is unique to Delta and related to our differentiation and durability, and that’s why we want to make sure that we provide you that – our investors with that transparency over time.”
I’m not sure why you are so fixated on the MRO business, rebel.
UA can’t even get to parity with DL on earnings for the businesses on which the two do compete which includes air transportation and credit cards.
UA is nowhere close to even coming within $1 billion of DL’s earnings and that is with a labor cost advantage.
beat the keyboard all you want but I am right that UA is a distant #2 in financial and customer service metrics and you are so wrapped up in UA’s image that you are incapable of admitting reality so do all you can to shoot the messenger that tells you the message you can’t stand to hear: in 10 years at UA, Kirby is nowhere near closing the gap w/ DL in financial metrics which is what he said he would do almost 10 years ago.
Kirby didn’t lie, now, did he?
Pure projection. It is you who are fixated with lying about it.
Let’s hope that the UA management also announces a fair contract with the company’s flight attendants and mechanics…
Pure projection. It is you who are fixated with lying about it.
Let’s see. Patrick Quayle or LTD.
One big surprise is Los Angeles – Portland, Maine route. UAL does not have non-stop summer non-stop flight between San Francisco, a stronger UA hubs, to Maine.
Woah, that’s gotta be like 6-7 hours westbound.
PWM-SFO is probably takes around 6 hours flying time as its summer only route, the Jetstream is not as strong as winter
They are actually adding both SFO-PWM and LAX-PWM for this summer. Both route will be Saturday only
Burbank would really be great. Jetblue is the only airline that does nonstop, but that’s only in the summer. Year round service would be fantastic.
Surely you don’t mean Burbank to LAX?
Oh no – bad wording- I live in NYC, so a EWR-BUR flight would be most welcome.
Greetings to BUR!
Burbank probably gets ORD first, then IAH. UA has always been undersized at BUR imo. It could easily serve 6x SFO, 4x DEN, 2x ORD, 2x IAH, 1x EWR. Very premium market that really helps with LA-area loyalty!
Airport code for Portland Maine is PWM not PME
Thanks for the summary, but FYI, PME is Portsmouth (and not even the Portsmouth that’s near PWM)!
UA has a new hub in PWM Saturdays only.
LAX-PIT is a restoration. UA flew that for some time non stop.
Canada routes are NOT domestic. Are we saying Quebec is now in the 51st state
Inshallah….
For whatever reason, historical presumably, the major airlines in the US plan and manage Canadian markets with their domestic portfolio and Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands with their international portfolio. Don’t ask me why, I have no idea.
PWM-ORD has been a long time year round route on United and is not being added in this announcement
AA flies between CMH and LAX:
Eastbound 9:30-17:10
Westbound 18:00-19:45
This allows CMH pax to connect both ways on flights to/from Oceana and maybe other Asian locations.
UA plans:
Eastbound 11:00-18:30
Westbound 7:30-9:30
So, UA westbound makes sense for LAX-bound travelers, arriving in the morning not evening. But, for evening TPAC, this is terrible. UA is probably a more comfortable return for LAX travelers, as I assume getting to LAX for an 11am flight is more than 1.5 hours more comfortable. UA has done a similar thing with their CMH-LAX route. It used to arrive in SFO at a decent time to catch TPAC. It now arrives early morning.
The norm is AA flys one plane LAX-CMH-LAX daily. It seems like UA might fly one plane CMH-LAX-CMH.
Welp, that confirms it. So, homeport is CMH!
UA has also added a second nonstop daily CMH-SFO flight
So
CMH-SFO 7:28a – 9:30a
CMH-SFO 7:22p – 9:30p
SFO-CMH 10:25a -6:16p will catch returning trans pacific
SFO-CMH 10:35p-6:26a
Hadn’t caught that.
Got my hopes up for a sec but it’s the wrong Portland. PDX is the only missing route that’s keeping me from switching loyalty to UA. They used to offer it until about 10 years ago.
Airlines used to have non stop flights all the time.
It was once an option in flying.
What I do not realize is these Airlines will give you blue light deals but flights are 10+ hours up unto 22 hours I’ve seen, just to go from point A to B.
My daughter came to visit me in San Diego CA from Buffalo NY on United.
Example of DEAL **
( 355.00 pp r/t ) with 2 kids.) 1110.10
+ baggage fees. (125.00) each way
1475.00
They flew them from San Diego > Chicago>San Francisco ( yes!! You read that right) > to Denver> Baltimore/MD to Buffalo……. 22 hour flight! Domestic West to East coast.
Why do they blame rising fuel prices for high airline tickets when they just took her on a trip around the country when she only wanted to go home to Buffalo.
THATS DEAL DAYS??
I mean who does that? She wasn’t sky tripping, she was headed East straight East….. its ridiculous!
Before AA and UA, LAX-CMH has had a long history of nonstops by TW, US, HP, DL and NK. NK discontinued service at the end of 2024 then AA resumed in early 2025. Pre pandemic there were up to 3 daily non stops – 2 on AA and 1 red eye on DL so it’s not a stretch to have two majors competing on this Columbus route now.
And, AA offers a connection for LAX pax in CMH. Every AA destination out of CMH has a nonstop out of LAX except one. You can book LAX-CMH-LGA. I don’t know how many do, but you obviously avoid AAs busy hubs. Your gate to gate walk can’t be more than 3 minutes. Many years ago HP had CMH as their eastern hub, though it really didn’t lose non-stop routes when the closed it.
You could spend a week in Portland, ME just eating seafood. It’s a great town.
Looks like both LAX-PWM and SFO-PWM has been loaded in the reservation system. Both flight depart west coast around 8:00AM WDT in the morning, gets into PWM around 5PM EDT. The returning leg for both flight would depart PWM around 6PM. Both flights are scheduled with Boeing 737-8 which makes sense here given the long return flight and short runway at PWM