United Airlines Planning Largest Domestic Schedule of COVID-19 Era
United Airlines has revealed plans to fly its largest domestic schedule since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic more than 18 months ago.
Anticipating a surge in holiday travel demand, the Chicago-based carrier will fly 3,500 daily domestic flights in December or 91 percent of its December 2019 domestic schedule. United’s loaded schedule will focus on connecting the Midwest to popular warm-weather destinations like Las Vegas, Orlando and Phoenix. The airline will also offer dozens of daily flights to top ski destinations, including new service between Orange County, California and Aspen, Colorado.
United will begin new direct flights to Las Vegas and Phoenix from Cleveland, and to Orlando from Indianapolis in December and will resume eight popular direct flights from Midwest cities, including routes to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa. United will also offer its most departures from Cleveland since 2014, including direct service to Nassau, Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico and will operate nearly 200 daily flights to a dozen destinations across Florida this winter, the most in company history. United is also resuming direct flights from Columbus, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh to Fort Myers after seeing high demand for those routes last winter.
Plus, the airline will operate 66 daily flights to more than a dozen ski destinations across the country. In addition to brand new service between Orange County and Aspen beginning this December, the winter season will feature flights from United hubs to Aspen/Snowmass, Mammoth, Bozeman/Big Sky, Eagle/Vail, Kalispell, Gunnison/Crested Butte, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Jackson Hole, Montrose/Telluride, Reno/Tahoe and Sun Valley.
Holiday travel flight searches on United.com and the United app are up 16 percent compared to 2019, the airline said. United expects the busiest travel days for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday to be Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, November 24 and Sunday, November 28. Meanwhile, the airline is predicting Thursday, December 23 and Sunday, January 2 to be the busiest days for winter holiday travel.
“We’re seeing a lot of pent-up demand in our data and are offering a December schedule that centers on the two things people want most for the holidays: warm sunshine and fresh snow,” Ankit Gupta, vice president of network planning and scheduling at United, said in a statement. “We know families and friends are eager to reunite this holiday season, which is why we’re thrilled to add new flights that will help them connect and celebrate together.”
Contact your travel advisor, visit United.com or download the United mobile app to book the airline’s winter schedule.
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