United Airlines is bolstering its domestic route network with eight new flights starting this summer.
As part of President Scott Kirby’s plan to focus on growing the domestic route network, United will pinpoint cities such as Bismarck, Dayton, Madison, and Norfolk.
> Read More: United Cuts International Routes, Will Focus on Domestic Travel
Here are the seven new year-around routes, all starting on June 7, 2018:
|
Hub |
New Destination |
Frequency |
Begins |
Aircraft |
|
Chicago (ORD) |
Bismarck, ND (BIS) |
2 flights daily |
June 7 |
ERJ |
|
Denver (DEN) |
Appleton, WI (ATW) |
Daily |
June 7 |
CRJ |
|
Denver (DEN) |
Norfolk, VA (ORF) |
Daily |
June 7 |
A319 |
|
Houston (IAH) |
Akron/Canton, OH (CAK) |
Daily |
June 7 |
ERJ |
|
Houston (IAH) |
Dayton, OH (DAY) |
Daily |
June 7 |
ERJ |
|
Los Angeles (LAX) |
Eureka, CA (ACV) |
Daily |
June 7 |
CRJ |
|
San Francisco (SFO) |
Madison, WI (MSN) |
Daily |
June 7 |
E175 |
New Summer Service to Rapid City
United wil also add weekly (Saturday only) service from Newark to Rapid City, South Dakota (RAP) during the summer. Rapid City is home to Mount Rushmore and a very popular tourist destination during the summer.
Notes
I’m pleased to see these new domestic routes, including the redemption of service from Los Angeles to Eureka, CA (which was eliminated when the Skywest/United Express EMB-120s were retired).
The new mainline service from Denver to Norfolk is a nice additional service for residents of one of Virginia’s largest cities.
I also like how United spread out the love out between hubs (though nothing for Washington Dulles).
CONCLUSION
The new flights have been loaded into the system and are now bookable.
DEN-ATW is going to be a fun, long ride on a CRJ
This is the effect of Kirby (you can also witness similar route launch patterns over AA, even after his departure) – small and medium sized towns largely out of LCC/ULCC threat, with a meaningful FF base, yearning for a nonstop even if nearly hubs already provide frequency (e.g. SFO-MSN even though ORD-MSN is 7x daily)
My friend who works at UA Willis Tower HQ (and works closely with route planning) says that’s essentially the key rationale of why UA’s launching LAX-Redmond OR (RDM) and LAX-Medford OR (MFR) come April (announced last year) but yet refuse to reinstate the obvious LAX-PDX.