Originally Posted by
DullesJason
Funny that one.
I don't expect anyone to remember it but this route WAS, once upon a time, planned, sold and scheduled. In the summer of 2001. It was set to begin at the end of September, October, something like that. Then 9/11 happened and as I'm sure most of you recall, routes were cancelled in spades.
Will united ever again consider IAD-SNA?
I've wondered the same thing. Personally I think the chances are slim given the recent announcement of LAX-FRA service.
One thing that is somewhat unique about SNA is that a lot of travelers who live close to the airport will drive to LAX to fly a transcontinental or international trip, mainly because total travel time is quicker than a connecting flight.
What this means is that launching nonstop markets from SNA ends up cannibalizing service already available from LAX. I'm fairly sure this is why AA discontinued SNA-JFK (besides the fact that the transcon market was flooded with capacity at the time).
Going back to SNA-IAD, I don't see it being especially feasible for connections to Europe. Because of the polar route, LAX-FRA-XXX is going to be quicker than SNA-IAD-XXX, even factoring in travel time to LAX. I also think UA wants to avoid cannibalizing SNA-DEN, because SNA is a key feeder market to support eastbound connections there (remember there is a big battle for market share in DEN between UA/F9/WN).
That all said, I could be wrong. But my guess is new feed into IAD will be from cities that can benefit from the transatlantic connections.
What do others think?