Air Houston

The new LAX UC is quite nice.

Don't blame you for not wanting to cross LA by car at rush hour!

DELee

Meh. I'd prefer to make the drive between BUR and LAX than try and deal with the road network that involves anything around IAH.

Having driven it at rush hour, it applies to both freeway/toll roads as well as surface streets in and around IAH. I must say I'm not a fan. I still don't get why right lanes on major surface streets stop/disappear in Houston.

WRT the LAX UC, yes, it is nice. It (and the rest of the gates in Terminal 7) would be easier to get to if UACO and LAX had added a wide set of steps that went straight up from the security area to the gates' level. Instead we have a single file escalator and a serpentine walk way up (or, if you have even more patience, a single level elevator primarily commandeered for wheelchair traffic). Apparently they didn't want any folks who need to hustle to try to get from security to the gate.

David

GSP flyer

It's always been beyond me why UA has never tried IAH/ORD-BUR, especially with the construction {mess} that is LAX these days. There are a lot of Eastern markets that don't have connections to DEN or SFO. For me, given the choice of a one stop to LAX or a double connection to BUR, I'll still put up with the ridiculousness at LAX. One stop via ORD or IAH would vastly change that equation.

MatthewLAX

Totally agree.

UA used to fly BUR-ORD on a 762.

That was a while ago.

But at least IAH makes sense, even if just on a ERJ-175.

PenaltyBox

How much ramp space or gates does UA have access to at BUR? Could they add frequency to DEN/ORD/IAH if they had the planes?

I think getting rid of the CR2s on SFO-BUR should be the 1st priority.

GSP flyer

I think United's probably more likely, in the abstract sense at least, to be a bit more ambitious at BUR in the sense that they're probably the least wedded to their LAX hub complex. On the other hand, BUR is already connected to DEN, which is a much more powerful hub than AA's PHX or DL's SLC hubs. My (only somewhat informed guesses) as to any non-WN expansion order would be:

1. AA DFW-BUR: AA flew it for nearly 30 years and rumordly only dumped it in bankruptcy to retire S80s faster. Now that they have gobs of 319s (perfect aircraft for the route), and their LAX operation is particularly crowded. I'll take AA's recent announcement of seasonal ORD-ONT as a sign that they're taking a second look at secondary LA markets again.

2. UA IAH/ORD-BUR: For the reasons I mentioned. Tossup as to which route. IAH lends itself a lot more to a E75 (it's 400 mi shorter); Chicago has better ties to the entertainment industry in Southern California.

3. AS SFO-BUR: I'll take AS's recent announcement of SFO-SNA that they're serious about competing in the Bay Area market.

4. DL ATL-BUR: This is the demarcation point between possible and likely, though Delta did try it a decade ago. Given that they're off ATL-ONT, it's less likely.

5. UA EWR-BUR: If United ever really wanted to go big and make a splash at BUR, it'd make sense, and could cater to the entertainment industry. It'd probably get announced alongside IAH/ORD-BUR. More likely when the NEO narrowbodies with better capabilities come online.

Boraxo

+1 Mainline at BUR would do quite well connecting to hubs for domestic flights (e.g. midwest, south). People will still travel to LAX for international nonstops but BUR would be far more convenient if you have to connect anyway at IAH/ORD/DFW.

Now if only we could get UA mainline service back at OAK