CHICAGO, Oct. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United today
announced that it will fly its biggest domestic schedule since the
start of the pandemic to meet an expected surge in holiday travel,
with an emphasis on connecting the Midwest to warm weather cities
like Las Vegas and Orlando as well as offering nearly 70 daily
flights to ski destinations, including new service between
Orange County and Aspen.
According to United, holiday travel flight searches on
united.com and the airline's app are up 16%, compared to 2019. The
airline expects the busiest travel days for the Thanksgiving
holiday will be Wednesday, November
24 and Sunday, November 28,
while popular days for winter holiday travel are expected to be
Thursday, December 23 and Sunday,
January 2.
The airline plans to offer more than 3,500 daily domestic
flights in December, representing 91% of its domestic capacity
compared to 2019.
"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," said
Ankit Gupta, vice president of
network planning and scheduling at United. "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."
In December, United will begin new direct flights to
Las Vegas and Phoenix from Cleveland, and to Orlando from Indianapolis. The carrier also will resume
eight popular direct flights from Midwest cities, including routes
to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa, offering the most departures the
airline has flown from Cleveland
since 2014 including direct service to Nassau and Cancun. United will offer up to 195 daily
flights to 12 destinations in Florida this winter, the most flights to the
Sunshine State in company history. United is also resuming direct
flights from Columbus,
Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh to Fort
Myers – which were some of the airline's most popular
point-to-point flights last winter.
Customers who prefer fresh powder can enjoy more flights to ski
destinations with United than any other carrier. The airline offers
66 daily flights to over a dozen ski destinations across the U.S.,
including brand new service beginning this December between
Orange County and Aspen. This winter season, United will have
flights to Aspen/Snowmass, Mammoth, Bozeman/Big Sky,
Eagle/Vail, Kalispell, Gunnison/Crested
Butte, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Jackson Hole, Montrose/Telluride, Reno/Tahoe, Sun
Valley from its hub airports.
Earlier this year, United announced that it will add 150 flights
to warm-weather destinations this winter season. All of these
flights and more are available now on united.com and United's
mobile app.
Committed to Ensuring a Safe Journey
United is committed to putting health and safety at the
forefront of every customer's journey, with the goal of delivering
an industry-leading standard of cleanliness through its
United CleanPlus℠ program. United has teamed up with Clorox
and Cleveland Clinic to redefine cleaning and health safety
procedures from check-in to landing and has implemented more than a
dozen new policies, protocols and innovations designed with the
safety of customers and employees in mind. Customers can review
COVID-19 entry requirements, find local testing options and upload
any required testing and vaccination records for domestic and
international travel, all in United's Travel Ready Center. United
was the first airline to integrate all these features into its
mobile app and website.
United Next
United is more focused than ever on its commitment to customers
and employees. In addition to today's announcement, United has
recently:
- Launched an ambitious plan to transform the United
customer experience by adding and upgrading hundreds of aircraft as
well as investing in features like larger overhead bins, seatback
entertainment in every seat and the industry's fastest available
Wi-Fi.
- Announced a goal to create 25,000 unionized jobs by 2026
that includes careers as pilots, flight attendants, agents,
technicians, and dispatchers.
- Announced that United will train at least 5,000 pilots by 2030
through the United Aviate Academy, with the plan of at least half
being women and people of color.
- Required all U.S. employees to receive a COVID-19
vaccination.
- Became the first airline to offer customers the ability to
check their destination's travel requirements, schedule COVID-19
tests and more on its mobile app and website.
- Invested in emerging technologies that are designed to
decarbonize air travel, like an agreement to work with urban air
mobility company Archer, an investment in aircraft startup Heart
Aerospace and a purchase agreement with Boom Supersonic.
- Committed to going 100% green by 2050 by reducing 100% of
our greenhouse gas emissions without relying on traditional carbon
offsets, including a recent agreement to purchase one and a
half times the amount of all of the rest of the world's airlines'
publicly announced Sustainable Aviation Fuel commitments
combined.
- Eliminated change fees for all economy and premium cabin
tickets for travel within the U.S.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the
World." In 2019, United and United Express® carriers operated more
than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 162 million customers.
United has the most comprehensive route network among North
American carriers, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los
Angeles, New
York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. For more about how to
join the United team, please visit united.com/careers and
more information about the company is at united.com. United
Airlines Holdings, Inc. is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol
"UAL".
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SOURCE United Airlines