QBK

As far as I can tell, the once-daily ABQ-LAX / LAX-ABQ flights are disappearing from 1/6/2015 through 4/5/2015 (inclusive). I can't find any evidence of a United announcement about this, and ABQ-LAX is still shown as a solid blue line on the current route map (rather than a dotted line to indicate seasonal service).

If this is correct, it feels to this ABQ-based 1K like yet another of the thousand cuts. No, it's not a huge deal (and frankly I tend to route through IAH for the extra miles anyway)... but we lost IAD, we lost mainline to DEN and IAH, and now LAX is trickling away.

Meanwhile, AS and JetBlue have started (1x/day) service, and AA has picked up the LAX flight. More and more incentive to be a Kayaker. None of which (sigh) is surprising in the least.

mduell

This is not a recent change.

Total flights by month December 2014 - July 2015 for UA ABQ-LAX broken down by the first day of the month the schedule was published:

So they pulled the Jan/Feb 2015 flights at some point in August 2014, and the March 2015 flights in September 2014.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

UA gave up 4 gates at LAX. I'm pretty sure they're gonna be juggling service to some airports.

QBK

Nice detective work! I didn't mean to imply it was a recent change -- just that I didn't know about it until now, and couldn't find any explicit statement or discussion either on FT or the intertubes. (Which seemed to justify alerting the 6 or 7 people who might care).

And, given that the cuts are several months old, I'm even more inclined to think poorly of United for not announcing it or even updating their route map.

Since I'm already impressed by your sleuthing resources... do you have a way to determine whether this kind of seasonal cutting has happened in previous years? I think I've flown this route enough to have known if it did, but now I'm second-guessing myself...

Hmm, interesting point. Doesn't change my feeling that ABQ is unloved, but it does make sense that they're forced to cut some service out of LAX. Wish they'd doubled up the SFO or ORD flights to compensate, though....

emcampbe

Is UA supposed to put out a press release everytime they make changes to every single one of their, how many hundreds or thousands, of routes? Especially if they are cutting back? Most carriers don't. Unless there is a major event - i.e. tons of cutbacks that result in job loses, on a big cost-saving mission, etc - these things don't typically get announced. In terms of the route map, if they are still serving it currently, it shouldn't get cut off (though perhaps they need to add the dotted line to represent seasonal, though they aren't the only ones behind with things like this - I was in a TG office in BOM a few months ago, they had a big route map on the wall that showed them as flying BKK-NYC, which they haven't flown for several years).

Seasonal cutting in years gone by are not necessarily going to help too much. Things have changed - not just with the merger, but with the industry in general. In the past, airlines were willing to flood the market with capacity/ overcapacity, sending out flights with many empty seats, even if it meant losing $ to get more market share. Those days are over - airlines are all trying to match supply and demand very closely, and above all else, are trying to cut unnecessary expenses and flights that aren't going out full/close to full, and that won't help them make more $. UA has also said in recent months that they are trying to adjust this down to seasonally, adding more flights in peak periods and reducing them when they aren't needed. Its possible that this route is an example of that strategy.

QBK

All your points are good, and well taken. As for "Is UA supposed to put out a press release every time..." -- I'm not presumptuous (at least in this case) to tell UA how to run their business, or even express a strong opinion. I wish they would publish a notice -- maybe even just a note on a web page -- when they drop a route entirely or drop it to seasonal. (But certainly not for just changing frequency or times!) After all, many of us fly often enough to expect that we know what flights are available. I get surprised (unpleasantly) when I thought I could book a flight, but it doesn't exist.

And, FWIW, it's particularly significant now that UA has imposed significant limits on the number of segments in an award ticket. For example, I just flew KTM-BKK-ICN-LAX-ABQ, which is a max-segment award. If LAX-ABQ goes away, that becomes impossible. There are more efficient routings, but very few, so removing nonstop service to an international hub has a big impact in available award routings.

I suppose I will go so far as to say that I think they should update their route map. I'm certainly not in a rage or anything, just bummed out. And venting on FT, like so many others.

kale73

I feel your pain, even though I've shifted most of my flights to PHX (it's only an hour's drive further than ABQ for me and far more cost-effective). I'm very careful about booking PHX flights to/through LAX, since many of those are on the dreaded CRJ 200.

mduell

I wouldn't expect route map updates more than once a year.

Here's the UAX flights by month since Feb 2006, which is the earliest I can find UAX (SKW5xxxx and SKW6xxx) in the market easily: