US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Shortest mainline route on US

Reading this thread over on UA got me thinking about US. The shortest flight that I can think of on mainline equipment is BWI-PHL. Rings in at 91 miles according to my DM statement. Anyone think of anything shorter?

Edited to keep a list:
CLT-GSO 82 nm
BWI-PHL 91 nm

Reading this thread over on UA got me thinking about US. The shortest flight that I can think of on mainline equipment is BWI-PHL. Rings in at 91 miles according to my DM statement. Anyone think of anything shorter?

CLT-GSO comes in at 83 miles on the great circle mapper.

Isn't PHL-ABE short? I swear to god that route was served on mainline, right?

Isn't PHL-ABE short? I swear to god that route was served on mainline, right?

55 miles PHL-ABE.

Very short, but no longer served by mainline. MAA is running the E170's up there starting shortly so if you consider those mainline then yes.

From plane-spotting at PIT, I would have thought that the shortest mainline route was PIT-LAX. ;)

From plane-spotting at PIT, I would have thought that the shortest mainline route was PIT-LAX. ;)

Come on we all know that's not right - they don't fly mainline out of Pit anymore. :p

How about CLT-GSP and CLT-CAE? I remember taking CLT-GSP on a 727 in the late 80s. Maybe 10 minutes in the air, if that. I think that is an all express route now too.

Come on we all know that's not right - they don't fly mainline out of Pit anymore. :p

In all fairness to US, while sitting at PIT waiting for my American Eagle flight on Monday afternoon, I saw a 767 land (LGW-PIT?), and an A330 was at one of the gates. There were also a [very] few 737s and A319/320s in evidence.

CLT-GSO comes in at 83 miles on the great circle mapper.

82 according to my statement.

I'll keep a list up on the top of the thread. Anyone else have any shorter? I think the UA found some in the 55 nm range.

I was thinking PIT-CAK.

So I checked (Great Circle Mapper: cool tool :) ) and it's 70mi.

I checked to be sure and.......wait for it.....no longer mainline. You all knew that. :o

A different airline, but I remember flying a number of trips between FLL-MIA on Eastern Airlines in the mid-1980s. It was approximately 30 miles, and took around 15 minutes on a 727 at an altitude of less than 12,000 ft. An easy way to qualify for the segment awards that the airlines used to run at that time.

I was thinking PIT-CAK.

So I checked (Great Circle Mapper: cool tool :) ) and it's 70mi.

I checked to be sure and.......wait for it.....no longer mainline. You all knew that. :o

It wasn't mainline for long.

Seems like yesterday when I used to take PIT-CAK in the late 80's in the flying boxes (Shorts 360). They finally upgraded it to Dornier's and a few F-100's in the mid 90's. Then after 9/11 CAK was one of the stations reduced to all-express status again.

In the F-100, they barely had enough time to get the landing gear up when it came down again... same with CLT-GSO in a 737.

In the F-100, they barely had enough time to get the landing gear up when it came down again... same with CLT-GSO in a 737.

Yes, but if you count the preflight, you can still down 3 drinks on this flight :D . I've had some really accomodating FAs on this route for reasons I don't begin to understand....

Yes, but if you count the preflight, you can still down 3 drinks on this flight :D . I've had some really accomodating FAs on this route for reasons I don't begin to understand....

I agree... I was only one in FC one Sunday morning in '94 on PIT-CAK. The FA took real good care of me... even gave me a full bag of bags of peanuts to take with me after I told her I was going to a baseball game later that day (ironically back in PIT).

I flew PIT-CAK in FC just a few years ago. more service on the ground than in the air :)

When I flew CLT-GSO last on mainline, they said we went up to 9000 feet.

I believe the UA thread people had some intra-CA connections that were OAK-SFO or something crazy like that which were less than 20 miles. I don't know what type of plane was on those routes, though.

Several years ago while in college I flew ITH-ELM-PIT-ORD. The flight from ITH-ELM lasted about 5 minutes and we never climbed above 3000 feet. I don't even think they raised the landing gear. The distance was 32 miles.

When I flew CLT-GSO last on mainline, they said we went up to 9000 feet.

I believe the UA thread people had some intra-CA connections that were OAK-SFO or something crazy like that which were less than 20 miles. I don't know what type of plane was on those routes, though.

As I recall that was a 747 and it flew all of 9 miles. :cool:

Still have a ways to go to beat the shortest scheduled flight in the world, though. It's between Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands and lasts 2 minutes. The pilot can visually check the windsock at the other airstrip before taking off. It's run by LoganAir, some sort of BA partner.

Some old Piedmont types may well recall the old days when 727-100s and 737s actually flew GSO - INT. (INT for those wondering is the original headquarters of Piedmont, Winston-Salem, NC. You'll also note that a number of US operations, incl Div Miles, remains in some of the original hdqrts offices there.)

Those flights absolutely didn't raise landing gears! Total flight time in a 727-100 was something like 6 minutes. The block time from gate to gate was 20 minutes, I think.

Unreal.

The previous poster beat me to the ITH - ELM route. That, too, was super short.

There are some silly short express routes. LBE-PIT at 46 miles (probably gone)

One of the affiliates used to go BOS-RUT-LEB. RUT-LEB is 33 miles (takes a little while in the B-1900, tho).

There are some silly short express routes. LBE-PIT at 46 miles (probably gone)

One of the affiliates used to go BOS-RUT-LEB. RUT-LEB is 33 miles (takes a little while in the B-1900, tho).

BLF-BKW isn't much further in a 1900 either. Pretty ride on a nice day up/down I-77.

Didn't US EX used to do BFD-Jamestown (forgot the code)? I want to say the original Chautauqua did it. That couldn't have been more than 35 miles either.

There are some silly short express routes. LBE-PIT at 46 miles (probably gone)



I did Plattsburgh-Burlington (excuse me, PLB-BTV) several years back. I think it was 23 miles, and all of 7 minutes wheels up to touch down.


This will always help me to remember the definition of a "direct flight" as my PIT-EWR-ALB-SLK-PLB-BTV was a "1-stop" flight according to the nice agent who issued my award ticket.

BLF-BKW isn't much further in a 1900 either. Pretty ride on a nice day up/down I-77.

Didn't US EX used to do BFD-Jamestown (forgot the code)? I want to say the original Chautauqua did it. That couldn't have been more than 35 miles either.

You mean Bedford, PA to Johnstown, PA? I'd imagine if anyone did it it'd have been Allegheny, and then only because the "bus/WN-like" routes were a lot more common in the day. I'd be stunned if they would actually ticket it....

You mean Bedford, PA to Johnstown, PA? I'd imagine if anyone did it it'd have been Allegheny, and then only because the "bus/WN-like" routes were a lot more common in the day. I'd be stunned if they would actually ticket it....

Unless I got the code (BFD) wrong, I meant McKean County Airport or Bradford/Warren/Olean, NY. Sorry, I'm a native of Bradford. I haven't flown into there since about '87 as my family is no longer in that area.

From plane-spotting at PIT, I would have thought that the shortest mainline route was PIT-LAX. ;)


LOL: if only it weren't true!

I'm not sure if they still do it, but STT-STX is something like 53 miles.

Several posts mention flights that no longer operate. How about United's SFO-OAK flights. Some people took them for mileage runs.

How about the shortest flights regardless of airline? The Guernsey-Alderney ones are short (but probably not the shortest). Helicopter flights can be short. Houston used to be served by Executive Airlink in the mid 80's using Bell 222's. You could fly from Greenway Plaza to downtown, though most sane people flew to the airport, not within the city.

How about the shortest flights regardless of airline?

Papa Westray (PPW) to Westray (WRY) in the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of Scotland, inaugurated 27 August 1967, and still operated by Loganair using 9-seat Islander aircraft.

It is now a BA franchise, with the Islanders in full BA livery. Four flights a week one way, three the other (BA 8872/8884), as part of an "island hopping" service to and from Kirkwall. Trips are scheduled for 2 minutes in the timetable. The two island's airstrips are 2 miles apart (less than the length of Heathrow's main runways), across open sea, and are visible from each other. There is also a difference of 60 feet in elevation.

Shortest flight with a US flight number:
NEV-SKB (13 miles) on WM (DHT)
(Windward Islands Airways, Nevis to St. Kitts)
... on a jet ...
LAX-ONT (45 miles) on UA (CRJ)

Shortest flight on US/USE metal:
ORF-PHF (23 miles) (DH8)
... on a jet ...
ABE-PHL (53 miles) (E70)

Shortest US mainline flight:
CLT-GSO (82 miles) (733)

This is using current schedules.

Other trivia:
Cheapest current published fare: TA14QN3 OW $26.98 (available MHT-PHL, PVD-PHL, RDU-PHL)
Most expensive current published fare: FR RT $15,886 (available HNL-AMS)
(fares published in USD, excluding taxes)