oscar555

I'm surprised too. I know that pretty much every business person that uses CLE has been asking for that for a long time. At least the new route is a start.

JDT1955

Actually...if you want an example for where UA closed a club, it would be (drum roll) CLEVELAND. The vestigial Red Carpet Club in B was closed about 10 years ago, and only came back with the merger as they moved into the President's Club in C. That being said, I'd still be surprised if they closed the current one, but just to be on the safe side, last year I moved from Cleveland to Chicago!

CMK10

Well there are examples later than that, they closed DFW and MSP in 2008 I think it was and MSP ended up reopening while DFW came back into existence with a PC. My point was that they haven't done it in years.

FreqFlyerCLE

At CLE today...I see no sign of lower C gates being reconfigured to remove UA signage and set up for other airlines' use. I'm at a low C gate now and it's business as usual. So, if UA will no longer use these lower C gates after January, they're in no hurry to vacate and use banjo area only. Not saying it won't happen...just an observation.

And it is busy for UA today, too!

plinth857

I noticed that as well when I traveled last week. C11 was my gate - and the airport itself was generally busy in the early afternoon. The food court was especially crowded - hadn't seen it that crowded since before the de-hub.

The other day, I was missing the Gordon Biersch brewery that used to be in Concourse D. I definitely like Great Lakes Brewery for lunch and libation, but being a local Clevelander, I can eat/drink there any time. Gordon Biersch was nice to go to when I traveled. Makes you wonder what ever will become of Concourse D. The Master Plan doesn't include it - nor would it, I assume, until after 2027, when United is done paying for it by the strictures of the merger.

entropy

It looks like D is dead for now. Despite being the 'newest', its a schlep, and presumably the operation of the terminal costs quite a bit more with all the power needed for the escalators/people movers.

It makes zero sense given the revenue environment to invest in directly connecting D to the terminal.

plinth857

New service from AA to DCA from CLE. 3x daily starting 05 APR. More competition on Cleveland to DC. Still would love to see a new route (CLE --> MCI perhaps) but this is still good news.

Billiken

I heard that UA is still paying rent of $1.1 million/month for the D concourse for the next several years.

ctownflyer

Until 2027

Of course we haven't heard a thing about paying a penalty for closing CLE's hub within the 5 years after the merger. Too bad we don't have a real newspaper in town to do some digging into that situation.

plinth857

I wonder if sometime in the not-too-distant future, JetBlue initiates service to JFK. This would open up significant opportunity for connecting passengers to their wider network. I'd love to fly JetBlue sometime on my monthly trip to Dallas, but Boston is so far out of the way as a connection, nor does JetBlue even allow that connection on a single itinerary. Perhaps as they are opening up shop here in CLE, they are worrying about the O/D traffic before considering picking up pax that are looking to use JetBlue to other destinations?

plinth857

I really think that in some circles, even some UA analysts might think that eliminating (rather than significantly reducing) the hub in CLE may not have been the best course of action (especially when the current cost of fuel is considered). Putting more strain on their EWR and ORD hubs to pick up the traffic HAS to have increased IRROPS at those already crowded airports. They have to continue paying that lease, and many of the new flights that are initiating in Cleveland are simply competing with exist UA regional jet routes, as well as facing intense competition now on the leisure destinations. It's not like the greater Cleveland area is a low population area. The population may not be growing, but there's no mistaking that Cleveland is on the upswing, and could be in line for increased business growth.

Of course, this is all wild speculation on my part, and means nothing. But it is possible!

rolltribe

I could definitely see B6 adding JFK. Another reason...B6 codeshares with EK and with United dropping IAD-DXB next month, no US carrier will serve DXB. I think there would definitely be interest in CLE-JFK-DXB on B6/EK, especially with the Clinic having a campus over in UAE.

rolltribe

Anybody else happen to be on 1710 from SFO yesterday? We left SFO about 25 minutes late and arrived in CLE 40 minutes early. Under 3.5 hours wheels up to wheels down. Has to be some sort of record.

FreqFlyerCLE

Why wouldn't UA want to make CLE a Focus City and increase some service & alleviate ORD/EWR traffic? They have the facilities and personnel already in place. Fuel prices low. Now, we need a campaign to UA! Where's the former "United For the Hub" group?

(Wishful thinking!?)

ctownflyer

If we can get LeBron back, surely we can get UA back as well

I think the real problem was the lack of ExJet pilots more than the CLE demand not being there. The CLE not being profitable nonsense was just so that UA would not have to cough up tens of millions for closing the hub prematurely.