buckeyefanflyer

This fall SFO was reduced to one a day. Second flight will be back in April. Not sure if FLL and RSW will be back not loaded now for early November 2916.

gusd

They've been doing this for the past few years.

plinth857

I would venture a guess and say that some of those are very temporary due to the RNC and will end quickly.

RNE

Just as temporary as is the Club at CLE. Not long after The Donald leaves CLE as the Republican nominee, UA will announce the Club will close, lying that it's unprofitable to keep it open.

Mike2K

Any evidence to suggest this? According to multiple Club reps, this information would be false.

trk1

Shifting flights to the banjo--to be near the club is the point. The
RNC is one week--will have little effect on airport operations
and traffic this summer. All events such as this (Look at past conventions and Olympics as examples) local traffic will tank and the convention will not make up for it. It will be a loss for everyone in the area except for hotels. July traffic
for 2016 will be less than 2015. The rest of the year will be up.

The club will be here for years to come. Club usage% is above the number for
our seat total % system wide. Way above such stations as San Diego, Boston,
MSP.

SFO777

+1

Business 101. If you are going to close a location and lay off people, you don't telegraph your intentions almost a year in advance.
The club will not survive into 2017.

Mike2K

Business 101 would say not to close a club in your busiest non-hub location. With United consolidating its gates down in the banjo, and unless they are planning a massive reduction in flights, there isn't any tangible evidence to suggest the club will close.

SFO777

Business 101 would also say not to close a hub that had been called very profitable by prior management.

Air Houston

But in that case most of us recognized that CLE was a hub the airline no longer benefitted from having, regardless of prior statements about profitability, while having a club there is a definite competitive advantage for the airline.

CMK10

I can't imagine why people think the CLE Club will close. Currently there are Clubs at PHX, SNA, PHL, MCO, MSP, SAT and several others that see minimal United service.

Hell, they rebuilt the SAT Club when United moved to a new terminal. But all of a sudden CLE is going to be shut down?

DawgmanOH

Bingo. We have a winner. Why would they close it? Could it get smaller? Maybe. But will it close? That makes no sense.

And, to take it a step further, if they already knew they would close it, why would they keep it open for the next 7 months just for the convention? That makes no sense. What benefit is there to United to keep something they want to close, and is supposedly losing money, open for another 7 months to benefit people for a few days? Why would they do that? The club is either making money, or it is not. The convention is irrelevant.

RNE

Do you think I've become the most important person on FlyerTalk merely because of my good looks? Well, yes, that's part of it, but, no. I'm important because I'm an expert at pattern recognition. That's how I've made my living and how I've lived my life. Quite an adventurous one at that!—spanning two planets, three moons and one asteroid. But I digress.

Via my ability to recognize patterns, I'm able to foresee a continuation thereof, and, thus, the future itself! For over ten years, I've shared my vision with the lesser mortals on FlyerTalk. They dote on my every word. Selfless generosity, therefore, is my sole motive in predicting—sadly—the demise of the CLE Club—a frequent and favorite haunt of my own.

Nevertheless, it is what I foresee. The Club closure continues the pattern of UA's abject disdain for Cleveland. Were the Republican Convention not bringing to town Club-going congressmen and other dignitaries—all of whom are lesser beings than me, of course—the closure would happen early in 2016, instead of late.

I'd say more, but I've got to run to catch a transport to Ceres.

SFO777

This.

Mike2K

That's what I was thinking. It doesn't matter what previous management said, the CLE hub didn't have a great fit into the new United, due in part to how the new management was running the show. However, having that club, in their largest non-hub base of operations definitely gives them an advantage. Much smaller stations have clubs, so it doesn't make sense for United to just pack up and leave. Reduce in size? Maybe. Not completely shutter.

Some on this board seem bent on believing that United has a personal vendetta against CLE.