Originally Posted by
Lux Flyer
Nothing to do with comic con demand given the westbound flight exists from June 2nd through EOS and comic con is a single week in July. And they still have the 737 operated flight an hour later (at 0930) from IAD. This heavily reeks of a stunt to flood the city pairs with capacity to suppress fares (in response to AS entering the market) that will be downgauged/passengers booked onto alternative flights via schedule changes as the actual departure date comes closer. Hardly seems like they will have a spare 777 to actually operate this route during the peak summer travel season, especially given the amount of expanded INTL flying they have slated for this summer.
Feel free to [MENTION=9905]me[/MENTION] in 4 months if this flight actually operates on the scheduled equipment.
We'll see what happens, but I am pretty confident United will have the 777s to operate this flight. This year, there will be 23 domestic 777s available, which is 4 more than pre-pandemic, and right now none of them are planned to operate beyond HNL or on any international routes. Compared to 2019, ORD-HNL/OGG are no longer flying with a 777s, so we are up to about 8 more domestic 777s available to schedule for summer operations. There's a good amount of aircraft time there to support IAD-SAN-IAD, which will operate as a turn.