Anticipating that leisure travel demand will continue rebounding for the rest of 2021, United Airlines is planning ahead for wintertime holiday travel by increasing service to cities across the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.
The airline plans on adding nearly 150 flights to warm-weather destinations within the U.S., and stepping up service to Latin beach and leisure markets by 30 percent over 2019. It will operate 137 more flights from November 2021 through March 2022 than it did during the same period in 2019, bound for places like Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Nevada.
United has been readying for air travel's return for more than a year, adjusting its flying schedule and aircraft availability to suit current demand, thanks to the close coordination between its network planning teams and on-the-ground operating groups.
During the recent 4th of July holiday travel period, United flew five times as many passengers as it did during the same period last year. Based on the assumption that consumer demand will continue to grow throughout the remainder of 2021, the airline is significantly expanding its winter schedule.
"Celebrating the holidays with family and loved ones in 2020 was a challenge, and we know our customers are already eager to plan winter vacations and gatherings in person this year to make up for time that they lost," said Ankit Gupta, United's Vice President of Network Planning. "As pandemic restrictions ease, people are becoming more confident in planning travel further in advance, so we want to make sure to offer our customers as much choice as possible."
These additional flights will primarily be flown using mainline aircraft, which offer United First, Economy Plus and standard Economy class seating, with complimentary snacks and onboard Wi-Fi. The additional U.S. flights will include:
-Up to 25 additional daily flights from New York/Newark to cities including Fort Myers, Jacksonville and Savannah
-Up to 14 additional daily flights from Denver to cities including Charleston, Fort Lauderdale and Savannah
-Up to 12 additional daily flights from Chicago to cities including Key West, Las Vegas and San Diego
-Up to 11 additional daily flights from Washington D.C. to cities including Charleston, New Orleans and Phoenix
-Up to seven additional daily flights from Houston to Florida, including Miami, Orlando and Palm Beach
-Up to four additional daily flights from Los Angeles to Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers
-Up to four additional daily flights from Cleveland to Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers
-Up to three additional daily flights from San Francisco to Orlando and Fort Myers
Knowing that customers will also want to reunite with family and friends in international warm-weather destinations this winter, United is also expanding service to the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America by 30 percent, compared to 2019 levels. This includes 12 new routes departing from major cities like Denver, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington D.C., bound for balmy destinations like Belize City, Belize; Cozumel, Mexico; Liberia, Costa Rica and Nassau, Bahamas.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
