United Airlines is ramping up for a summer of domestic travel with a number of new flights from non-hub cities to popular vacation destinations. The move marks a further step away from the hub-and-spoke model during a pandemic in which all bets are off.
New United Point-To-Point Routes Launching In May 2021
United will launch additional service from seven non-hub airports to popular summer destinations including Charleston, Portland (Maine), and Hilton Head. Service will start May 27, 2021 and will run through Labor Day Weekend.
Here are the new flights:
- Cleveland, OH (CLE)
- Charleston, SC (CHS) – 3 times weekly
- Hilton Head, SC (HHH) – 3 times weekly
- Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR) – 3 times weekly
- Pensacola, FL (PNS) – 3 times weekly
- Portland, ME (PWM) – 3 times weekly
- Cincinnati,OH (CVG)
- Charleston, SC (CHS) – 3 times weekly
- Hilton Head, SC (HHH) – 3 times weekly
- Pensacola, FL (PNS) – 3 times weekly
- Portland, ME (PWM) – 3 times weekly
- Columbus, OH (CMH)
- Charleston, SC (CHS) – 4 times weekly
- Hilton Head, SC (HHH) – 3 times weekly
- Portland, ME (PWM) – 4 times weekly
- Indianapolis, IN (IND)
- Charleston, SC (CHS) – 3 times weekly
- Hilton Head, SC (HHH) – 4 times weekly
- Portland, ME (PWM) – 4 times weekly
- Milwaukee, WI (MKE)
- Charleston, SC (CHS) – 2 times weekly
- Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR) – 2 times weekly
- Pensacola, FL (PNS) – 2 times weekly
- Portland, ME (PWM) – 2 times weekly
- Savannah, GA (SAV) – 2 times weekly
- St. Louis, MO (STL)
- Hilton Head, SC (HHH) – 3 times weekly
- Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR) – 3 times weekly
- Pittsburgh, PA (PIT)
- Charleston, SC (CHS) – 3 times weekly
- Hilton Head, SC (HHH) – 3 times weekly
United plans to use its new CRJ-550 aircraft on most of these routes, which I reviewed last week. These spacious jets include:
- 10 seats in United First
- 20 seats in United EconomyPlus
- 20 seats in United Economy
There’s also plenty of room for larger carry-on bags onboard and wireless internet (no power plugs).
> Read More: United Airlines CRJ-550 First Class
Three Additional New Domestic Routes
United will also add three new domestic routes from its hubs:
- Chicago (ORD) ⇄ Nantucket (ACK)
- Houston (IAH) ⇄ Kalispell, MT (FCA)
- Washington (IAD) ⇄ Bozeman, MT (BZN)
These will operate seasonally. United will also resume 17 additional domestic seasonal flights.
Schedules for the new flights will be published later this week.
CONCLUSION
Overall, United will operate 58% of it domestic schedule, compared to May 2019. The new routes mark a new reality: leisure is in, business is out. While United will face fierce competition on many of its new non-hub point-to-point routes, its limited operations and 50-seat aircraft will likely prove quite popular.
Do any of these new United point-to-point routes appeal to you?
> Read More: United Airlines Adds 17 Non-Hub Florida Routes (Full Schedule)
image: United Airlines
Portland is PWM! And that is crazy!!! We’ve never had this much service from any airline iirc.
Some schedules already published!! Just bought four tickets on Chicago – Nantucket for August. I’ve been waiting for that flight for a long time!
Thanks for posting this! As an IND based flyer, nice to see the lift to HHH and CHS.
HHH extended the runway a few years ago allowing the CRJs to service the airport. Previously it was a turbo prop, which was noisy, but fun nonetheless.
Will the Dulles – Bozeman route also be CRJ 550 I was a little unclear? I got a cheap introductory fare on Southwest but that direct flight especially on a CRJ 550 is tempting.
Aircraft types unclear yet on all routes. United just mentioned that many would feature the CRJ-550.
That’s an awful lot of service from random midwest cities to Portland, Maine! Since I can’t see UA doing a nonstop between, say MKE and BDL or PVD or MHT (all airports serving much larger population centers that also have beach/mountain areas within a 2 hr drive), I also can’t see such a route being very successful. Offering up the SC destinations and SAV make a lot more sense from Ohio than from Milwaukee, btw. Cheeseheads are more apt to travel to FL, TX or AZ.
Perhaps they know something, but I don’t get it.
It’s absolutely fascinating watching this unfold both with flights and hotels. Living on the road now full time I am seeing the shift all too clear. Checked in to the Hyatt Mission Bay in S.D. last night and I’m checking out early today. It’s completely overrun with families. On a Wednesday even. Can’t even imagine what the weekend will be like as I have never seen so many kids at a hotel outside of Disney. I have no issue with children at hotels but this property was always a mixed with business and leisure travelers, so was ok. Now, I am the strange guy wearing a suit in the elevator as eight maskless kids dripping from the pool surround me.
This summer is going to be madness.
I think the PWM flights are as close as they could get to Acadia NP, same as the Bozeman flights are feed to Glacier NP. There may be some beach traffic but the beaches on that part of the Atlantic tend to be more rocky outcrops than swimming fun.
I just did not realize that there was demand like that to go to Maine.
B6 has dropped all of their Maine service.
Thank you
They could fly to BGR if they wanted to (heck, even BHB if they wanted, although having flown from there, it may not have the right facilities for it). PWM is where the $$ is at.