United Airlines to Cut 17 Domestic Routes

United Airlines plans to drop 17 domestic routes from its schedule, the carrier confirmed to BTN. 

The Points Guy first reported the cuts based on data obtained via Cirium. 

“United makes regular adjustments to its schedule in response to market demand and staffing resources to ensure we can best serve our customers,” according to a statement provided by the carrier. 

The markets affected are secondary and tertiary cities, usually serviced by regional partner carriers. Executives from United, as well as other airlines, during recent earnings calls have mentioned the current challenge of finding pilots for regional flights. 

“We are facing the pilot shortage on our regional aircraft … and we expect that pilot shortage to continue for a while, including for the rest of 2022,” United EVP and chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella said Jan. 20 during an earnings call. “Unfortunately, there will be a few more communities that we will have to remove from our network.”

All but four of the routes dropped had not resumed service since the pandemic, according to Cirium data, which was reviewed through November 2022. All destinations will retain United service, through connections, except for Alexandria, La., according to a United spokesperson.

The four routes that had resumed include:

• Washington Dulles-Allentown, Pa.: service reduced to two flights in June 2022, then eliminated after June 
• Washington Dulles-Pensacola, Fla.: service eliminated after January 2022
• Houston-Alexandria, La., service reduced to two flights in June 2022, then eliminated after June 
• Chicago O’Hare-Charlottesville, Va., service reduced to four flights in June 2022, then eliminated after June 

The other cut routes include Denver-Dayton, Ohio; service between Newark and each Oklahoma City, Omaha and Knoxville, Tenn.; service between Washington Dulles and each Lexington, Ky. (except for four flights in May), Madison, Wis., and Oklahoma City; service between Houston and each Columbia, S.C., and Akron-Canton, Ohio; service between Chicago O’Hare and each Bismarck, N.D., Jackson, Miss., Pasco-Tri Cities, Wash., and Redmond, Ore.