In an unexpected move, United Airlines will add point-to-point service to several cities in Florida from non-hub airports. The move marks a practical adjustment to atrophying demand for business travel as a result of the pandemic. Here’s the full schedule of United’s new Florida routes.
United Adds New Non-Hub Routes To Florida
Starting on November 6, 2020 United will add nonstop service from Boston (BOS), Cleveland (CLE), and New York LaGuardia (LGA) to Fort Lauderdale FLL), Fort Myers (RSW), Orlando (MCO), and Tampa (TPA). The service will operate on “peak days” and run through January 10 2021.
|
Route |
Origin |
Dest |
Dep |
Arr |
✈ |
|
Boston |
|||||
|
BOS ⇄ FLL |
BOS |
FLL |
8:50 AM |
12:23 PM |
737-800 |
|
BOS |
FLL |
12:45 PM |
4:18 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
FLL |
BOS |
8:30 AM |
11:48 AM |
737-800 |
|
|
FLL |
BOS |
1:15 PM |
4:33 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
BOS ⇄ RSW |
BOS |
RSW |
9:00 AM |
12:37 PM |
A320 |
|
RSW |
BOS |
12:30 PM |
3:40 PM |
A320 |
|
|
BOS ⇄ MCO |
BOS |
MCO |
9:00 AM |
12:20 PM |
A320 |
|
BOS |
MCO |
1:00 PM |
4:20 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
MCO |
BOS |
8:15 AM |
11:09 AM |
737-800 |
|
|
MCO |
BOS |
12:30 PM |
3:24 PM |
A320 |
|
|
BOS ⇄ TPA |
BOS |
TPA |
8:30 AM |
12:00 PM |
737-800 |
|
TPA |
BOS |
12:55 PM |
3:55 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
New York/LaGuardia |
|||||
|
LGA ⇄ FLL |
LGA |
FLL |
9:20 AM |
12:33 PM |
A320 |
|
LGA |
FLL |
1:05 PM |
4:18 PM |
A320 |
|
|
FLL |
LGA |
1:25 PM |
4:19 PM |
A320 |
|
|
FLL |
LGA |
5:10 PM |
8:04 PM |
A320 |
|
|
LGA ⇄ RSW |
LGA |
RSW |
10:00 AM |
1:15 PM |
737-800 |
|
RSW |
LGA |
2:06 PM |
4:59 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
LGA ⇄ MCO |
LGA |
MCO |
7:59 AM |
10:55 AM |
A320 |
|
LGA |
MCO |
12:00 PM |
2:56 PM |
A320 |
|
|
MCO |
LGA |
8:30 AM |
11:03 AM |
A320 |
|
|
MCO |
LGA |
12:00 PM |
2:33 PM |
A320 |
|
|
LGA ⇄ TPA |
LGA |
TPA |
9:29 AM |
12:39 PM |
737-800 |
|
TPA |
LGA |
1:35 PM |
4:18 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
|
Cleveland | ||||
|
CLE ⇄ FLL |
CLE |
FLL |
9:15 AM |
12:12 PM |
737-800 |
|
FLL |
CLE |
1:05 PM |
3:58 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
CLE ⇄ RSW |
CLE |
RSW |
9:30 AM |
12:13 PM |
737-800 |
|
RSW |
CLE |
1:10 PM |
3:52 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
CLE ⇄ MCO |
CLE |
MCO |
9:00 AM |
11:32 AM |
737-800 |
|
MCO |
CLE |
12:30 PM |
2:58 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
CLE ⇄ TPA |
CLE |
TPA |
8:15 AM |
10:57 AM |
E175 |
|
TPA |
CLE |
11:35 AM |
2:10 PM |
E175 |
|
Then on December 17, just in time for the holidays, United will add up to 28 daily nonstop flights include service to Florida from:
- Columbus (CMH)
- Indianapolis (IND)
- Milwaukee (MKE)
- Pittsburgh (PIT)
|
Route |
Origin |
Dest |
Dep |
Arr |
✈ |
|
Boston |
|||||
|
BOS ⇄ FLL |
BOS |
FLL |
8:50 AM |
12:23 PM |
737-800 |
|
BOS |
FLL |
12:45 PM |
4:18 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
FLL |
BOS |
8:30 AM |
11:48 AM |
737-800 |
|
|
FLL |
BOS |
1:15 PM |
4:33 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
BOS ⇄ RSW |
BOS |
RSW |
9:00 AM |
12:37 PM |
A320 |
|
BOS |
RSW |
1:00 PM |
4:39 PM |
A320 |
|
|
RSW |
BOS |
9:00 AM |
12:09 PM |
A320 |
|
|
RSW |
BOS |
12:30 PM |
3:40 PM |
A320 |
|
|
BOS ⇄ MCO |
BOS |
MCO |
9:00 AM |
12:20 PM |
A320 |
|
BOS |
MCO |
1:00 PM |
4:20 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
MCO |
BOS |
8:15 AM |
11:09 AM |
737-800 |
|
|
MCO |
BOS |
12:30 PM |
3:24 PM |
A320 |
|
|
BOS ⇄ TPA |
BOS |
TPA |
8:30 AM |
12:00 PM |
737-800 |
|
BOS |
TPA |
1:30 PM |
5:02 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
TPA |
BOS |
9:30 AM |
12:30 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
TPA |
BOS |
12:55 PM |
3:55 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
New York/LaGuardia |
|||||
|
LGA ⇄ FLL |
LGA |
FLL |
9:20 AM |
12:33 PM |
A320 |
|
LGA |
FLL |
1:05 PM |
4:18 PM |
A320 |
|
|
FLL |
LGA |
1:25 PM |
4:19 PM |
A320 |
|
|
FLL |
LGA |
5:10 PM |
8:04 PM |
A320 |
|
|
LGA ⇄ RSW |
LGA |
RSW |
10:00 AM |
1:15 PM |
737-800 |
|
LGA |
RSW |
1:29 PM |
4:46 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
RSW |
LGA |
9:40 AM |
12:33 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
RSW |
LGA |
2:06 PM |
4:59 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
LGA ⇄ MCO |
LGA |
MCO |
7:59 AM |
10:55 AM |
A320 |
|
LGA |
MCO |
12:00 PM |
2:56 PM |
A320 |
|
|
MCO |
LGA |
8:30 AM |
11:03 AM |
A320 |
|
|
MCO |
LGA |
12:00 PM |
2:33 PM |
A320 |
|
|
LGA ⇄ TPA |
LGA |
TPA |
9:29 AM |
12:39 PM |
737-800 |
|
LGA |
TPA |
12:29 PM |
3:40 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
TPA |
LGA |
8:40 AM |
11:22 AM |
737-800 |
|
|
TPA |
LGA |
1:35 PM |
4:18 PM |
737-800 |
|
| Cleveland | |||||
|
CLE ⇄ FLL |
CLE |
FLL |
9:15 AM |
12:12 PM |
737-800 |
|
CLE |
FLL |
12:55 PM |
3:52 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
FLL |
CLE |
9:10 AM |
12:03 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
FLL |
CLE |
1:05 PM |
3:58 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
CLE ⇄ RSW |
CLE |
RSW |
9:30 AM |
12:13 PM |
737-800 |
|
CLE |
RSW |
1:45 PM |
4:27 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
RSW |
CLE |
10:00 AM |
12:38 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
RSW |
CLE |
1:10 PM |
3:52 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
CLE ⇄ MCO |
CLE |
MCO |
9:00 AM |
11:32 AM |
737-800 |
|
CLE |
MCO |
3:35 PM |
6:01 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
MCO |
CLE |
8:45 AM |
11:12 AM |
737-800 |
|
|
MCO |
CLE |
12:30 PM |
2:58 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
CLE ⇄ TPA |
CLE |
TPA |
8:15 AM |
10:57 AM |
737-800 |
|
TPA |
CLE |
11:35 AM |
2:10 PM |
737-800 |
|
|
Milwaukee |
|||||
|
MKE ⇄ TPA |
MKE |
TPA |
9:15 AM |
1:05 PM |
A319 |
|
TPA |
MKE |
1:55 PM |
3:55 PM |
A319 |
|
|
MKE ⇄ RSW |
MKE |
RSW |
10:25 AM |
2:29 PM |
A319 |
|
RSW |
MKE |
3:05 PM |
5:15 PM |
A319 |
|
|
Columbus |
|||||
|
CMH ⇄ RSW |
CMH |
RSW |
8:30 AM |
11:05 AM |
E175 |
|
RSW |
CMH |
1:30 PM |
4:01 PM |
E175 |
|
|
Indianapolis |
|||||
|
IND ⇄ RSW |
IND |
RSW |
9:05 AM |
11:33 PM |
A320 |
|
RSW |
IND |
1:30 PM |
4:01 PM |
A320 |
|
|
Pittsburgh |
|||||
|
PIT ⇄ RSW |
PIT |
RSW |
10:10 AM |
12:50 PM |
E175 |
|
RSW |
PIT |
11:50 AM |
2:29 PM |
E175 |
|
Ankit Gupta, United’s Vice President of Domestic Network Planning, said:
“The addition of these new flights represents United’s largest expansion of point-to-point, non-hub flying and reflects our data driven approach to add capacity where customers are telling us they want to go. We look forward to offering customers in the Midwest and Northeast more options to fly nonstop to Florida this winter.”
Although United has run seasonal service between Florida and Cleveland (a former hub) for many years, the move is quite a departure from United’s hub-and-spoke model.
Tickets are available for purchase now on united.com.
CONCLUSION
You can look at this route announcement as a move of desperation or a move of innovation, but it is probably a bit of each. The new flights will likely do very well. The question, of course, is yield and what kind of fares these flights can command. But United is adding 17 new routes between Florida cities and seven non-hub airports in the Midwest and East Coast.
Surprised to see United fly between Pittsburgh and Fort Myers?
Thanks Matt. As a IND flyer I can tell you there is a considerable amount of demand for RSW, I agree that flight should do well and command a premium. Appreciate the info.
Very cool move. Cleveland historically was one of the few cities in the United network with point to point flights. RSW, FLL, and TPA were seasonal; MCO up until the pandemic was year round.
We also at one point (post-hub era) had flights to LGA, MKE, BOS, DCA, CUN, CHS, and SJU.
These adds are so far out of UA’s comfort zone I can’t begin analyze these moves. Seems like all the piggies are trying to survive off the same Florida trough. I can’t imagine there’s enough slop to go around.
Hopefully Florida will be off of Cuomo’s naughty list by November so I won’t have to “quarantine” upon return.
I’m glad they’re thinking outside the box a little bit and adding flights to where people are flying. I could use a CMH-MCO flight from United. Maybe soon if the RSW works out.
I think it’s a ridiculous move — all they’re doing is jumping on the same over-crowded bandwagon as American, Delta, Jet Blue, Spirit and Southwest – talk about glut to the Florida markets. Old, dying New Yorkers (probably the largest market) are going to go to one of the worst Covid-19 states? Seriously, we had some friends invite us down there and I just laughed at my husband and said that is the very last place on earth I would go to, never mind getting on an airplane with masks and all the other associated annoyances.
And lest we forget the population of Florida is nearly that of Australia. I would say there’s demand in both directions. RSW is clearly underserved and I’m sure Southwest Florida residents will appreciate not having to drive to Tampa or S Florida quite as much.
Wowser – This is back to the future for me. When I was a young pilot with United in the late 1970’s – early 1980’s nearly ALL of these Ohio-Upper NY-MKE-PA to Florida routes were in schedule and extremely popular. The airplanes were always full. The routes were served generally with B-727-100s with an occasional -200 or DC8. They were called Snowbird Service. United had a crew bases in CLE and MIA at the time (B727 and B737) and they were Gems with great flying and crew camaraderie. These are just wonderful memories of some great flying and customer service. Nearly all major Florida cities were served: MIA, FLL, PBI, TPA, MCO, etc.
In the late 1980’s the bean-counters (revenue management) said these full airplanes were not making enough revenue so all were axed and force fit into the hub-spoke model. I am both stunned and pleased at this development which reflects the reality of flexibility and market forces determining the deployment of assets, staff and schedules. I wish United great success with this.
“Sunbird Service”!