![]() If you are hoping United will return to cities like College Station, Eau Claire, or Santa Rosa, the word from Nocella will likely be disappointing. This dilemma is not unique to United in the USA, but takes on special precedence considering United operates nearly as many widebody jets than American and Delta combined and of the “Big 3” US carriers is the airline most focused on longhaul travel. The era of bringing in travelers via regional jets from small cities and towns to United hubs will likely never return to what it once was. ![]() The future of United is in longhaul travel, with emphasis on local markets and feeder traffic from larger cities. “There will be an opportunity for smaller carriers to offer direct service between cities we used to serve, but that will not be United.” However, Nocella sees an opportunity for new entrants to the market like Breeze Airways, whose business model is built upon point-to-point connections between smaller cities that avoid congested hubs. “Such capacity constraints put a strain on the traditional hub-and-spoke model.” This problem may be most acute at Newark Liberty International Airport, but also impacts Chicago O’Hare, Denver, and Los Angles, according to Nocella. Without new runway and terminal construction, there simply isn’t room for these flights and therefore service to smaller domestic markets will simply not be tenable via larger hubs.Įven cities that currently support service will likely see fewer frequencies with larger aircraft. Nocella reiterated that infrastructure constraints including a shortage of air-traffic controllers, congested airspace, and limitations on runways and airport gates will get worse as multiple US carriers expand through the remainder of this decade. Live And Let’s Fly later had a one-on-one conversation with Nocella and I asked about whether we could expect the domestic market to rebound or whether United would be more of a point-to-point carrier. Finally, a scope clause in its contract with pilots prohibits the addition of larger regional jets without a corresponding increase in the number of mainline pilots. United has also accelerated its retirement of the unpopular 50-seat jets like the Embraer ERJ-135/145 and the Canadair Air CRJ-50, known by travelers as the “Devil’s chariot” for its tight and uncomfortable seating. Service on these smaller routes has been further compromised by a pilot shortage in which many regional jets are sitting idle because there are not sufficient pilots to fly them. ![]() Since the pandemic, United has cut service to:Įven before the pandemic, United eliminated service to many cities when it retired its fleet of Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprops. “The country is just not building a lot more runways and that’s just going to cause us to need to upgauge our aircraft to respond to growing demand.”īut large aircraft tend not to work well in smaller markets. Nocella called the domestic market “saturated” and “mature.” That assessment is driven not primarily by competition, but by the increasing lack of space at United’s hub airports to accommodate more flights. ![]() In speaking to the media about United’s latest aircraft order, United’s Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella emphasized that “disproportional growth” would continue to be directed toward long-haul international flight. United Airlines COO: “Saturated” Domestic Network Will Lead To “Disproportional” Focus On Longhaul Flights United Airlines is adding over 800 aircraft to its fleet over the next decade, but many smaller cities that were once served via United Express will not return to the route map.
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