UA announces SFO-DEL/MEL/YYZ; Expands AKL/AMS/PPT/ICN.

NCAD95 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:09 am

If the route announcement is at 11 am Central time would that not indicate something out of ORD or Houston being those are in the Central time zone. One would think if it was out of EWR it would have been listed out of the Eastern Time zone

enilria · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:12 am

NCAD95 wrote:
If the route announcement is at 11 am Central time would that not indicate something out of ORD or Houston being those are in the Central time zone. One would think if it was out of EWR it would have been listed out of the Eastern Time zone

Or that UA P.R. is located in Chicago...

AlexBrewster03 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:12 am

Uaflyguy wrote:
MCO-GRU..been rumored by employees for some time. Along with other routes from MCO. Also possible Europe routes out of Boston.

I highly doubt United will challenge DL at Boston. They don’t seem like the type of Arline to start long haul ops at an airport where they aren’t the strongest. I would love a transatlantic route or two out of Cleveland. SFO to BKK could also be cool.

shaneam12 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:13 am

NCAD95 wrote:
If the route announcement is at 11 am Central time would that not indicate something out of ORD or Houston being those are in the Central time zone. One would think if it was out of EWR it would have been listed out of the Eastern Time zone

Well their HQ is in Chicago, so I would assume that would be the reason.

Fargo · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:19 am

Whatever it is, I hope ORD gets something out of this. If they don't, it will be a big letdown for sure.

tkoenig95 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:28 am

SASViking wrote:
IAH-CPH would be great although I doubt it's gonna happen

One day Scandinavia will get the attention it deserves

fromheretohere9 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:29 am

Will never happen, but HNL-LHR just to throw another option to the mix.

tkoenig95 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:30 am

Hopefully a couple of announcements will include beefing up the 787 base at IAH.

Dominion301 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:37 am

UALifer wrote:
Dominion301 wrote:
Given the fact that the announcement is listed as being made in central time, surely ORD and/or IAH are involved.

Actually I think it’s listed as central time because United HQ is in Chicago. If anything I think the timing indicates that there’s at least one SFO/LAX route because they’re waiting until 9am pacific time to make the announcement.

Very true. I imagine this announcement involves multiple hubs.

CALMSP wrote:
if it is truly a "historic" announcement, it has to be something that is not currently linked or served outside of a ORD-TLV. I think the only historic routes would be a SFO-GUM connection and a JNB / ADD route.

“Historic” might also refer to unprecedented as is “big” in terms of sheer quantity. Either way, there will be at least one “wow” announcement coming out of this.

FSDan · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:38 am

len90 wrote:
FSDan wrote:
kngkyle wrote:
How much slack is there in the widebody fleet next summer?

There is some slack in certain fleets. It also depends on how many 767s and 777s will be out of action for Polaris mods. Using the fleet allocation diagram loaded to the UA Network thread as a reference, along with currently loaded schedule times:

763 - some slack - current planned schedule requires 29 frames (out of 38?)
764 - some slack - current planned schedule requires 13 frames (out of 16)
788 - no slack without cutting something - current planned schedule requires all 12 frames
789 - no slack without cutting something - current planned schedule requires all 25 frames
78J - no slack without cutting something - current planned schedule requires all 9 frames
772 - some slack - current planned schedule requires 9 Polaris frames (out of 12?), 19 sUA frames (out of 22?), and 19 sCO frames (out of 21?)
77W - not really any slack without cutting something - current planned schedule requires 17 frames (out of 18)

If the new route(s) involve the 787 fleet, I imagine we'll see a cut somewhere else, or a move to a different equipment type. I could see something along the lines of restarting IAH-LOS on the 789 while cutting IAH-SYD. I'm not sure that would count as "historic", though, as UA has served IAH-LOS before.

sCO had 22 frames. a bit more slack in that sub fleet; especially now that the 77W has taken over a few of the long heavy routes out of EWR.

Key word there is "had". According to the fleet site one is in for Polaris conversions now. The question marks are there because I don't know how many Polaris conversions will be completed by the time any newly announced routes start. The actual numbers of frames required to fly the currently loaded schedule I believe to be correct - I don't know about the totals in each subfleet. If anything, I expect there will be no slack in the sUA and sCO subfleets, and there will be some slack in the Polaris-equipped subfleet (looking again at the fleet site, there may be 14 Polaris, 21 sCO, and 20 sUA frames by summer).

nomorerjs · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:40 am

Fargo wrote:
Whatever it is, I hope ORD gets something out of this. If they don't, it will be a big letdown for sure.

It would be great to see something out of ORD, but ORD is the only hub not to get international love in years (cutting seasonal SNN is the only move in years) and the only hub without 787s (which AA loves to exploit in Chicago). Sure, BJX is added, but ZIH was cut. No widebody additions.

I won’t hold my breath in anything at ORD until T2 and the satellite international gates open in years. UA is content to let partners expand at ORD (look at all of the * adds!). While not on UA metal, it is nice to see AV to BOG, NZ to AKL, NH to HND (moved an NRT flight).

Look at Wiki and see all of the new routes at ORD next year! UA only has seasonal Express flights to HHH. DL has more planned at ORD next year (BOS and RDU).

As much as we joke about AA international at ORD, they have many new markets (sure most are seasonal), but at least new markets.

Delta757MD88 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:42 am

From an EWR standpoint, we are seeing a lot of the sCO 777's being freed up now that UA has the 77W. EWR-JNB would make sense could also see EWR-CAI given the Star A affiliation with Egyptair.

N292UX · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:46 am

With the new IAD lounge coming, my bet is that it may involve IAD. If it's one route, maybe somewhere to Africa. If it's a bunch of route, I'm betting it could involve a combination of EWR-JNB, IAD-LIM or SCL, IAH-CDG, EWR-ICN, IAD-PVG, SFO-MEL or PER, or SFO-GUM

anair79 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:51 am

I didn't find any communication about this announcement in united.com or the Twitter page...
Could you please share the link?
Thanks

theasianguy · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:51 am

Before we all get excited speculating what new routes will be launched, can someone please post a link to the source of this news? I searched on Google and the United hub site but couldn’t find anything about this.

h2oflyguy · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:52 am

I'm gonna say - It's 6 Continents & Long Haul flights!

6 continents from EWR with a Non-Stop Oceania flight.??
6 continents from IAH with an African destination.
(both matching ORD 6 continents "historic" achievement)

Bringing back UA001 & UA002 for the RTW flights.

...JFK?

Cointrin330 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:53 am

Uaflyguy wrote:
MCO-GRU..been rumored by employees for some time. Along with other routes from MCO. Also possible Europe routes out of Boston.

On UA? Yeah, no.

Fargo · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:53 am

nomorerjs wrote:
Fargo wrote:
Whatever it is, I hope ORD gets something out of this. If they don't, it will be a big letdown for sure.

It would be great to see something out of ORD, but ORD is the only hub not to get international love in years (cutting seasonal SNN is the only move in years) and the only hub without 787s (which AA loves to exploit in Chicago). Sure, BJX is added, but ZIH was cut. No widebody additions.

I won’t hold my breath in anything at ORD until T2 and the satellite international gates open in years. UA is content to let partners expand at ORD (look at all of the * adds!). While not on UA metal, it is nice to see AV to BOG, NZ to AKL, NH to HND (moved an NRT flight).

Look at Wiki and see all of the new routes at ORD next year! UA only has seasonal Express flights to HHH. DL has more planned at ORD next year (BOS and RDU).

As much as we joke about AA international at ORD, they have many new markets (sure most are seasonal), but at least new markets.

I know, ORD is getting love from everyone except UA, the so-called "hometown airline". I think it is fair to start asking some serious questions of UA's true level of commitment to ORD if they are not included in this in any way tomorrow.

Then again, I do concede that the international terminal situation might be a hindrance to UA expanding further internationally. This is all the more reason the Global Terminal needs expedited as fast as humanly possible, the future of ORD depends on it......

ek241yyz · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:55 am

I'll go a different direction and guess Eastern Europe....

EWR/IAD-WAW. My guess. Would be nice seeing UA do it.

N292UX · Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:56 am

Forgot about WAW. With Star Alliance being big there, I could see something being added there. Maybe VIE to go with it.

nomorerjs · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:02 am

ek241yyz wrote:
I'll go a different direction and guess Eastern Europe....

EWR/IAD-WAW. My guess. Would be nice seeing UA do it.

LO serves Poland for UA.

nomorerjs · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:02 am

N292UX wrote:
Forgot about WAW. With Star Alliance being big there, I could see something being added there. Maybe VIE to go with it.

OS is handling VIE for UA.

FSDan · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:03 am

Delta757MD88 wrote:
From an EWR standpoint, we are seeing a lot of the sCO 777's being freed up now that UA has the 77W. EWR-JNB would make sense could also see EWR-CAI given the Star A affiliation with Egyptair.

There's actually not much (if any) slack in the sCO 777 fleet for next summer as of now. For the first time, ORD will see sCO 772s operating certain routes (ORD-FRA #1, ORD-PEK, and ORD-HKG). That accounts for most of the capacity freed up from EWR by 78Js/77Ws, with an additional frame having gone in for Polaris conversion.

I'd expect most new routes to be operated by narrowbodies, 767s, and Polaris-equipped 772s (again, unless something else like IAH-SYD gets cut).

Cointrin330 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:04 am

AlexBrewster03 wrote:
Uaflyguy wrote:
MCO-GRU..been rumored by employees for some time. Along with other routes from MCO. Also possible Europe routes out of Boston.

I highly doubt United will challenge DL at Boston. They don’t seem like the type of Arline to start long haul ops at an airport where they aren’t the strongest. I would love a transatlantic route or two out of Cleveland. SFO to BKK could also be cool.

Definitely not going to be a TATL route out of CLE. First, it would not be historic. PM-CO flew CLE-LGW, then CLE-LHR and CLE-CDG (for one year) and CLE isn't a hub for UA any longer and not a focus for the airline other than maintaining service to its hubs from there. SFO to BKK? Doubtful. If UA were to launch Africa services, it would serve 6 continents, but it has done that before (UA flew IAH-LOS, IAD-ACC, etc...)

nomorerjs · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:04 am

h2oflyguy wrote:
I'm gonna say - It's 6 Continents & Long Haul flights!

6 continents from EWR with a Non-Stop Oceania flight.??
6 continents from IAH with an African destination.
(both matching ORD 6 continents "historic" achievement)

Bringing back UA001 & UA002 for the RTW flights.

...JFK?

IAH had Africa service, so not “historic.”
NZ is looking at NYC (EWR or JFK), so I doubt that.

intotheair · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:05 am

anair79 wrote:
I didn't find any communication about this announcement in united.com or the Twitter page...
Could you please share the link?
Thanks

If it's a news advisory, then what that usually means is that UA would have sent it out to only media outlets for planning purposes only. Advisories, unlike press releases, are usually not meant for coverage on their own.

hayzel777 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:06 am

Why are all these ORD folks so hurt by the lack of new planes or lack of new routes? Suck it up, UA puts its assets where they are best suited.

codc10 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:06 am

Over the summer, the rumor mill had LAX getting a new longhaul in 2019.

ITSTours · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:06 am

I want ORD/EWR/IAD-ICN.
I know it's not going to happen.
I still want it.

Fargo · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:06 am

Maybe it's "historic" in the sense that a large number will be announced at once, not necessarily historic as in a new destination.

nomorerjs · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:08 am

Fargo wrote:
nomorerjs wrote:
Fargo wrote:
Whatever it is, I hope ORD gets something out of this. If they don't, it will be a big letdown for sure.

It would be great to see something out of ORD, but ORD is the only hub not to get international love in years (cutting seasonal SNN is the only move in years) and the only hub without 787s (which AA loves to exploit in Chicago). Sure, BJX is added, but ZIH was cut. No widebody additions.

I won’t hold my breath in anything at ORD until T2 and the satellite international gates open in years. UA is content to let partners expand at ORD (look at all of the * adds!). While not on UA metal, it is nice to see AV to BOG, NZ to AKL, NH to HND (moved an NRT flight).

Look at Wiki and see all of the new routes at ORD next year! UA only has seasonal Express flights to HHH. DL has more planned at ORD next year (BOS and RDU).

As much as we joke about AA international at ORD, they have many new markets (sure most are seasonal), but at least new markets.

I know, ORD is getting love from everyone except UA, the so-called "hometown airline". I think it is fair to start asking some serious questions of UA's true level of commitment to ORD if they are not included in this in any way tomorrow.

Then again, I do concede that the international terminal situation might be a hindrance to UA expanding further internationally. This is all the more reason the Global Terminal needs expedited as fast as humanly possible, the future of ORD depends on it......

This forum knows UA too well. Look at the lack of ORD predictions. Sad that Chicago’s “Hometown Airline” does not add “million dollar” international routes at home.

I now know how our friend 250 miles east feels. At least DL is adding more than seasonal HHH flights!

Rdh3e · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:11 am

Fargo wrote:

I know, ORD is getting love from everyone except UA, the so-called "hometown airline". I think it is fair to start asking some serious questions of UA's true level of commitment to ORD if they are not included in this in any way tomorrow.

..

United is both the largest and fastest growing carrier in Chicago. Any other statement is fiction.

anair79 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:11 am

intotheair wrote:
anair79 wrote:
I didn't find any communication about this announcement in united.com or the Twitter page...
Could you please share the link?
Thanks

If it's a news advisory, then what that usually means is that UA would have sent it out to only media outlets for planning purposes only. Advisories, unlike press releases, are usually not meant for coverage on their own.

Thanks

Amchi757300 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:12 am

SFO to BOM/EZE?

TWA583 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:13 am

FSDan wrote:
kngkyle wrote:
How much slack is there in the widebody fleet next summer?

There is some slack in certain fleets. It also depends on how many 767s and 777s will be out of action for Polaris mods. Using the fleet allocation diagram loaded to the UA Network thread as a reference, along with currently loaded schedule times:

763 - some slack - current planned schedule requires 29 frames (out of 38?)
764 - some slack - current planned schedule requires 13 frames (out of 16)
788 - no slack without cutting something - current planned schedule requires all 12 frames
789 - no slack without cutting something - current planned schedule requires all 25 frames
78J - no slack without cutting something - current planned schedule requires all 9 frames
772 - some slack - current planned schedule requires 9 Polaris frames (out of 12?), 19 sUA frames (out of 22?), and 19 sCO frames (out of 21?)
77W - not really any slack without cutting something - current planned schedule requires 17 frames (out of 18)

If the new route(s) involve the 787 fleet, I imagine we'll see a cut somewhere else, or a move to a different equipment type. I could see something along the lines of restarting IAH-LOS on the 789 while cutting IAH-SYD. I'm not sure that would count as "historic", though, as UA has served IAH-LOS before.

If UA is set to announce somewhere in Africa, as many (myself included) suggest, I'd think it'd be launched in the Northern Hemisphere's winter, when there's significantly more slack in the fleet. I'd also note that UA couldn't do anywhere in South Africa with its existing 777 fleet, nor could it do IAH-JNB with any commercial viable load, thus limiting possibilities in Africa to EWR/IAD-JNB on a 787, IAH-CPT on a 787, IAH-LOS (not so historic), or IAD-ACC/LOS, at least in my opinion.

gpasternak · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:15 am

berari wrote:
USAirALB wrote:
I wonder if service to Africa could be in the cards, perhaps EWR-JNB.

This is what I was also thinking.

Yes, would love to see either North American Star Alliance member have direct flights to JNB.
Was also thinking of possible West Coast US to BNE.

Completly out of the realm of possibility, ridiculous but sure to start a conversation due to nearly being antipodes.... HNL-JNB anyone?

N649DL · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:15 am

"Historic" to me is interesting as maybe there are some historical routes being brought back. My guesses:

1. Return to JFK and re-start JFK/LAX and maybe LHR or FRA.
2. Re-start BOS-LHR or FRA.
3. Start random LatAm routes out of FLL or MCO.
4. ORD-TLV
5. SFO-GRU
6. EWR or IAD-GIG
7. EWR or IAD to JNB.
8. ORD-ARN or CPH or OSL.

Whatever it is I hope nobody's disappointed.

Max Q · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:18 am

‘Historic’ could also refer to the reintroduction of a RTW flight

Unless they link DEL - HKG again a non stop SFO-DEL or SFO-BOM would create the link required to legitimately reclaim
this as a unique service and do so profitably

I dont believe there’s another airline In the
world that has such a RTW flight anymore

Fargo · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:18 am

Rdh3e wrote:
Fargo wrote:

I know, ORD is getting love from everyone except UA, the so-called "hometown airline". I think it is fair to start asking some serious questions of UA's true level of commitment to ORD if they are not included in this in any way tomorrow.

..

United is both the largest and fastest growing carrier in Chicago. Any other statement is fiction.

And most of that growth has been in frequencies, nothing else. Still the lowest % of mainline of all their hubs, large about of 50 seaters, old tired 767's/777's and no 787's on international routes, not one new international route on their own metal for several years (despite demand existing for routes such as ATH, TLV, etc, the former of which AA is launching next year), tired facilities (though in fairness, that will be changing over the course of the next decade).

So yes, at the minimum, it is fair to ask why UA isn't launching more mainline and international destinations from ORD.

HeeseokKoo · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:19 am

ITSTours wrote:
I want ORD/EWR/IAD-ICN.
I know it's not going to happen.
I still want it.

I want any of them so bad and it may still happen.
But if it were Pyongyang, now that could be called `historic'.

KLAXAirport · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:21 am

I really hope it is something like EWR-BUD... or even better some more long haul out of LAX. It still is crazy to me that DEN has more UA service to Europe than LAX...

Cheers,
KLAXAirport

AVENSAB727 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:21 am

My guesses:
ORD-TLV
IAH-PVG
IAH-JNB
ORD-SCL
EWR-GIG

jteruel06 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:23 am

Just throwing some routes out there:

1. SFO-GUM
2. SFO-MNL
3. EWR-SIN
4. EWR-AKL

Antarius · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:23 am

nomorerjs wrote:
Fargo wrote:
Whatever it is, I hope ORD gets something out of this. If they don't, it will be a big letdown for sure.

It would be great to see something out of ORD, but ORD is the only hub not to get international love in years (cutting seasonal SNN is the only move in years) and the only hub without 787s (which AA loves to exploit in Chicago). Sure, BJX is added, but ZIH was cut. No widebody additions.

AA can fill 777s where AA needs 787s. AA has cut ORD-NRT to like 3x a week and ORD-china. AA now has ORD-LHR as the only widebody daily year round route?

I'm no UA fan (am an AA top tier flyer) but they seem to be squarely kicking Americans backside at ORD of late.

Cointrin330 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:23 am

N649DL wrote:
"Historic" to me is interesting as maybe there are some historical routes being brought back. My guesses:

1. Return to JFK and re-start JFK/LAX and maybe LHR or FRA. Not likely. LHR? No slots. FRA? No way.,
2. Re-start BOS-LHR or FRA. Definitely not.
3. Start random LatAm routes out of FLL or MCO. UA isn't DL. Not gonna happen.
4. ORD-TLV Maybe.
5. SFO-GRU Potentially, but a long shot.
6. EWR or IAD-GIG Unlikely. Brazil's economy just hasn't rebounded quite as much as this would not be historic.
7. EWR or IAD to JNB. Quite likely.
8. ORD-ARN or CPH or OSL. Why? SAS flies ARN and CPH. OSL? Doubtful.

Whatever it is I hope nobody's disappointed.

bostonvancouver · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:26 am

i wonder if opening a route to hong kong from another hub?

RainerBoeing777 · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:26 am

SFO-BNE , IAH/EWR-JNB , IAH/IAD-PVG , SFO-GRU , LAX-FRA/HKG

OMAAbound · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:29 am

Could it be something along the lines of operating all models of 787 to LHR/FRA or something along those lines?

Personally, knowing how airlines like to ‘big up’ news stories, it will either be something that would struggle to blow a birthday cake out or something that would make us all sit back and take note. Personally, I’m going with the former.

OMAA

Ellofiend · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:29 am

How about turning all the 789's to Sydney (3/day) into 777's?! Lol, I hope there is a new route to Oz, possibly IAH-MEL or contesting the QF50 flight SFO-MEL. Maybe LAX-BNE or SFO-BNE? Who knows maybe even ORD will enter the fray of United flights to the East coast

MSPNWA · Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:30 am

My guess is EWR/IAD-JNB. To me this feels like a route to Africa.

Who is online

Popular Searches On Airliners.net