United, American roll out big changes at hubs
Airlines constantly tweak their schedules, trying to find profitable new routes or pulling the plug on ones that have underperformed. Airports and communities court these new services.
There are dozens of changes to airline routes each month. Here’s a look at some of the most interesting:
United ‘maximizing’ routes at Newark, Washington hubs
United Airlines announced changes to about two dozen routes as it adjusts schedules at its main East Coast hubs in New York and Washington. United described the move as one that would allow it to “maximize” operations at those locations.
At its hub at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty, United will add additional flights on 15 routes it already flies from there. Newark is one of the three major airports serving metro New York City. United will add a new seasonal route from Newark to Palm Springs, Calif., and will transition its Newark-Key West service from seasonal to year-round.
As it does that, United will make room in its schedule at Newark — which is capacity-controlled — by shifting three routes to its hub at Washington Dulles and by dropping four others to cities United already serves from other cities.
The three cities that will see their United service switch to Washington from Newark are Chattanooga, Tenn.; Ithaca, N.Y.; and Scranton/WilkesBarre, Pa. The four cities losing nonstop Newark service will be Baltimore; Des Moines; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Hartford, Conn. United will still serve all four of those destinations from other hubs.
“The schedule adjustments are designed to offer more non-stop flights to destinations popular with New Yorkarea customers while reallocating large- ly connecting passenger flights on short-haul routes to United’s hub at Washington-Dulles,” United said in a statement explaining the changes.
American: Less China, more Caribbean
American Airlines rolled out a wideranging set of route adjustments that will see the carrier bolster service to Hawaii and the Caribbean and suspend a major route to China.
The changes bring new Caribbean routes to four of American’s hubs, including four from Chicago O’Hare (Aruba; Cayman Islands; Nassau, Bahamas; and Turks and Caicos) and two from Charlotte (Eleuthera and Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas). Miami and Dallas/Fort Worth (Aruba) each get one new Caribbean route, though Miami’s is the only one that introduces a new destination to American’s route map: St. Vincent and the Grenadines. American says that Saturday-only route will make it the only U.S. carrier to fly to the Caribbean island nation, which opened a new airport in 2017.
Additionally, Chicago O’Hare will gain a seasonal wintertime route to Honolulu, which American plans to fly with Boeing 787-8 “Dreamliner” widebody jets. That daily service will launch Dec. 19, restoring a route American last flew in 2014.
American also revealed plans to suspend its high-profile service between Chicago O’Hare and Beijing in October. The last Beijing-bound flight will depart Chicago on Oct. 20 with the return leaving China for Chicago on Oct. 22.
San Antonio now a Frontier town
Frontier Airlines announced a major expansion in San Antonio, where the ultra-low-cost carrier will add nine new routes to its existing schedule.
Once the flights begin, Frontier will offer either seasonal or year-round service from San Antonio to 23 destinations. That, Frontier says, will make it the top carrier there as measured by number of non-stop routes offered.
Frontier’s newest San Antonio routes are: Albuquerque; Charlotte; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville; Memphis; Oklahoma City; Omaha; and Tulsa. Frontier will be the only airline to fly on eight of those.
Allegiant says ‘so long’ to Trenton and Colorado Springs
There are now two fewer dots on Allegiant’s route map. Allegiant ended service to Colorado Springs and Trenton, N.J., in late April, ending all of its flights from both cities.
Allegiant spokeswoman Krysta Levy cited “a lack of demand” for Allegiant’s decision to leave both markets.
Allegiant had flown from Colorado Springs since 1999, though it was down to just one route — Las Vegas — when it ended service April 29. Allegiant’s Trenton service began two years ago, when it launched three Florida routes in late 2016. After dropping its last route to Punta Gorda, the Trenton-Mercer Airport is left with just one passenger airline: Frontier.
French Bee lands in San Francisco
One of the newest European low-cost carriers to try the U.S., French Bee — formerly known as French Blue — launched flights on May 11 from its first U.S. city: San Francisco.
It now offers flights to both Paris Orly and the South Pacific destination of Tahiti, serving both routes with new Airbus A350-900 aircraft that include 35 “Premium” recliner seats and 376 in coach. French Bee has advertised fares as low as $189 one-way for San Francisco-Paris.