Nope, UA stopped because they were weight restricted and also because of fuel/weather issues. Quite often the plane would be half full but full of cargo and would be making UA a tonne of money. Problem was that due to distance and fuel, they could not take more pax, and cargo was paying more per tonne than pax i believe.

Weather also hampered this flight as fuel stops were more common than not in Fiji and Sydney. Ultimately, reliability to maintain schedule and provide a passenger service killed this route.

Melbourne Check in agents have appealed to Sydney to discuss the route again with Chicago, however, the return is unlikely at this stage.

Furthermore, a return to Auckland is unlikely with NZ being a star alliance partner and assuming star traffic on this route. This route does not command two carriers, however, may work if UA can squeeze some traffic on the MEL- AKL - LAX route if this was reinstated.

The fact that 99 pax were on board is indicitive that UA would require say 200 in AKL to fill the plane. Noting that 99 is a light load as MEL normally averages about 140 with half going to SFO and half to LAX.