A Bombardier CRJ-550 aircraft from United Airlines Holdings Inc. is located at a gate at O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in Chicago, Illinois.
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
United Airlines is adding more than two dozen non-stop routes from the Midwest to coastal cities popular with vacationers for the summer season, a bet that will continue to draw travelers to the outdoors.
The Chicago-based airline said Thursday that its overall schedule for May will be 52% of what it flew in May 2019, which will fly the most in more than a year, when the pandemic shuts down businesses and most air travel. Last May it flew 14% of its May 2019 capacity. The domestic schedule in May will be 58% of its May 2019 capacity.
The plans show the airline’s focus on domestic vacationers for another summer, generally the most lucrative season for airlines. Air travel has steadily increased as more people have been vaccinated in the last month, but business and international travel are still down sharply compared to domestic vacation destinations.
“We wanted to focus our assets on where the demand is,” said Ankit Gupta, United’s vice president of network and planning planning. He said the airline’s capacity to Florida is almost back to the same level as in 2019.
Beginning May 27, United plans to add new direct flights from Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Indianapolis. Destinations and frequencies vary by market from two to four times a week and include Portland, Maine, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Pensacola, Florida.
Most of the service will be on the 50-seat CRJ-550 jet.
Other new non-stops include Houston to Kalispell, Montana, Washington to Bozeman, Montana, and Chicago to Nantucket, Massachusetts
Other carriers also go after customers who want to go outside. Delta Air Lines announced a host of summer services to destinations including Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Glacier Park, Montana last week.
Leisure-oriented budget carriers like Spirit Airlines also plan to grow this summer, as the low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines takes to United’s grounds by entering hubs at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
“There will be significant competition for all US customers,” said Gupta. “We believe we have all the right ingredients.”
International travel is lagging behind domestic travel due to persistent travel restrictions and weak demand. United’s international schedule for May is 46% of its May 2019 schedule, although flying in Latin America and the Caribbean will surpass May 2019 levels when travelers go on vacation and visit friends and family.