United and 2017 Government Contracts
Aug 5, 2016, 8:04 pm
#1
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United and 2017 Government Contracts
Building off a forum from last year entitled "United and the 2016 Government Contracts"
Looks like UA has won back some government contracts that it's lost over the last few years. In particular I note they got BWI/IAD-HNL and WAS-GUM. Still don't have the NRT contract which remains with AA. Looks like they're trying to do a better job of not losing those contracts out of IAD. As a frequent GUM flyer happy to see the YCA fares come back. They lost this contract awhile ago and it drove a lot of folks to Delta.
Looks like UA has won back some government contracts that it's lost over the last few years. In particular I note they got BWI/IAD-HNL and WAS-GUM. Still don't have the NRT contract which remains with AA. Looks like they're trying to do a better job of not losing those contracts out of IAD. As a frequent GUM flyer happy to see the YCA fares come back. They lost this contract awhile ago and it drove a lot of folks to Delta.
Aug 6, 2016, 2:59 pm
#5
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The FedTravel site shows the information in a better format (actual flights), but has not been updated to FY17 yet.
Aug 6, 2016, 4:55 pm
#6
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Has anyone on a -CA fare (say an SCA) been able to "buy up" to a W fare out of pocket, so as to be able to apply a GPU?
Last edited by sannmann; Aug 6, 2016 at 5:01 pm
Aug 6, 2016, 5:18 pm
#7
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Aug 6, 2016, 8:48 pm
#8
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really bummed AA got the IAH-COS route back from UA. I only fly it about once or twice a year for USAFA but the old DFW stops on AA are annoying compared to non-stop.
Aug 6, 2016, 9:27 pm
#9
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IIRC, "capital to capital" does not factor into the GSA's metrics for deciding which airline wins a route. They do weight availability of non-stop flights higher than connecting flights, but that weighting will not overcome a sizable difference in fares.
Aug 7, 2016, 6:31 pm
#11
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Does anyone see the YCA fares loaded into the system yet? UA seems to be pricing higher than YCA fare on their online gov't booking tool.
Aug 7, 2016, 6:51 pm
#12
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I realize that the algorithm doesn't change depending on the route . . . the comment was more an observation about how peculiar these things are (and how much government time was wasted making a stop in London, although apparently government employees' time is cheap!)
Aug 7, 2016, 6:54 pm
#13
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This was the case for IAD-VIE this past year as well. Now it's back to UA codeshare on OS. For my SIL who makes about 10 trips a year it's huge to get the direct flight back.
Aug 7, 2016, 7:06 pm
#15
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Assuming this just means they will route via existing network and won't introduce a new route (e.g. IAD-DEL non-stop)? Sorry for the dumb questions...just know that some of the routes previously flown (like IAD-DXB) were solely because of the government contracts...