CLE-DCA/LGA Discontinued
Jan 17, 2020, 5:42 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UA 1K & 1MM/AA Gold & 1MM/HH Gold/Marriott Titanium
Posts: 2,920
CLE-DCA/LGA Discontinued
https://www.cleveland.com/business/2...-national.html
Moderator addition
Moderator addition
CLEVELAND — United Airlines is dropping nonstop service between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and two business-oriented airports, New York LaGuardia and Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. The changes take effect March 29.
A spokesman for United said the airline would be adding new capacity to existing service from Cleveland to Newark International Airport and Dulles International Airport. He said there would be no net decrease in total seats to the New York City and Washington, D.C., areas.
A spokesman for United said the airline would be adding new capacity to existing service from Cleveland to Newark International Airport and Dulles International Airport. He said there would be no net decrease in total seats to the New York City and Washington, D.C., areas.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Feb 19, 2020 at 8:56 pm Reason: When posting external links provide enough content for the FlyerTalk post to stand on its own without following the link.
Jan 17, 2020, 7:23 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,444
LAX is obviously a hub, and that route is not going away, but I digress... Kirby recently said CLE will be “hubs only” but for now the crew bases remain, so it makes sense to continue with some mainline service to high-volume leisure markets. The CLE-DCA/LGA flights are all Express 50-seaters, IIRC.
Jan 17, 2020, 8:11 am
#10
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: CLE
Programs: UA
Posts: 289
I would’ve thought UA would keep LGA/DCA especially since ExpressJet has crew and maintenance bases at CLE and flies ERJ145s from CLE to LGA/DCA. Guess ExpressJet is going to end up closing those CLE bases, too.
Jan 17, 2020, 8:17 am
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,337
The CLE-LGA flights are all ERJ145s. I never took them, even when my destination was CLE. I'd rather connect in ORD and collect the PQM. Now for PQF 
Not sad to see them go but the CLE-LGA flights were always full based on what I saw.
-RM
Not sad to see them go but the CLE-LGA flights were always full based on what I saw.
-RM
Jan 17, 2020, 8:19 am
#12
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, NY
Programs: UA, AA, DL, Hertz, Avis, National, Hyatt, Hilton, SPG, Marriott
Posts: 9,444
do you have a source where Kirby said this? I don’t doubt CLE will be hubs only soon...very sad IMO. It shows that CLE loyal FFs count for nothing in UA management minds, despite loyalty (see reporting on loyal UA CLE frequent flyers here https://www.cleveland.com/business/2...rovements.html )
I would’ve thought UA would keep LGA/DCA especially since ExpressJet has crew and maintenance bases at CLE and flies ERJ145s from CLE to LGA/DCA. Guess ExpressJet is going to end up closing those CLE bases, too.
I would’ve thought UA would keep LGA/DCA especially since ExpressJet has crew and maintenance bases at CLE and flies ERJ145s from CLE to LGA/DCA. Guess ExpressJet is going to end up closing those CLE bases, too.
Saw Kirby in Ops today as I was waiting on my trip. Here’s what I remember:
IAD is now the 2nd most profitable hub. Planning to grow major there. Currently @270 dep a day, planned to go to 450+ dep a day with 7 banks. Because of this planning a major upgrade to terminal and facilities now. Said he is very excited about the potential at IAD due to it not being gate and space limited.
New route from SFO coming out tomorrow {SFO-DUB}. Planning to add gates in SFO {Boarding Areas E/G}.
Not planning to go back into JFK due to no gates and space. Planning to add flights into OAK maybe next year {hearing this too, for next summer OAK-LAX/DEN}.
Talked about MAX. Doesn’t think we’ll see them before the Summer, political now. Many airlines are deferring MAX orders and United is scooping them up. Once it is cleared to fly we will have a lot coming to us. Plan to max out TK getting 737 pilots trained. We have a Max sim coming, one of the few airlines in the world to have one. Been buying up used aircraft to make up for lift right now. Have I think 17 SWA -700’s coming. Some used 319’s coming this year.
Growing IAH this year, going from 600-700 flights this year. Houston is dependent on Latin America. Their economies have been down but coming back. We’re largest carrier into MEX.
Talked about RJ’s and he wants to come to an agreement on our scope.
Said any aircraft that they plan to keep for 4+ years will get a $1.5 Mil interior upgrade over the next several years.
Said he wants to continue and improve on what Oscar started here with better labor and management relations and the company being a place that we want to work at but that passengers talk about like with SWA. (We’ll see how that goes. Get us a contract then).
CLE will only fly to and from a hub. It’s not going to be a base again.
Excited about 321XLR. Said planning to add 11 destinations to Europe and maybe N. Africa.
Said trade war is hurting us in China Still planning to grow some in Asia, but not China. Singapore is our biggest competitor in Asia. Even though a SA partner, probably our smallest partner. Big competitor.
Doing a lot more European flying.
Not getting rid of any 777’s, just moving them around the system. Said the A350 isn’t dead, but they are waiting to see what happens with the 777. The A350 is a. 777 replacement if they get them.
ORD will be a 787 base.
IAD is now the 2nd most profitable hub. Planning to grow major there. Currently @270 dep a day, planned to go to 450+ dep a day with 7 banks. Because of this planning a major upgrade to terminal and facilities now. Said he is very excited about the potential at IAD due to it not being gate and space limited.
New route from SFO coming out tomorrow {SFO-DUB}. Planning to add gates in SFO {Boarding Areas E/G}.
Not planning to go back into JFK due to no gates and space. Planning to add flights into OAK maybe next year {hearing this too, for next summer OAK-LAX/DEN}.
Talked about MAX. Doesn’t think we’ll see them before the Summer, political now. Many airlines are deferring MAX orders and United is scooping them up. Once it is cleared to fly we will have a lot coming to us. Plan to max out TK getting 737 pilots trained. We have a Max sim coming, one of the few airlines in the world to have one. Been buying up used aircraft to make up for lift right now. Have I think 17 SWA -700’s coming. Some used 319’s coming this year.
Growing IAH this year, going from 600-700 flights this year. Houston is dependent on Latin America. Their economies have been down but coming back. We’re largest carrier into MEX.
Talked about RJ’s and he wants to come to an agreement on our scope.
Said any aircraft that they plan to keep for 4+ years will get a $1.5 Mil interior upgrade over the next several years.
Said he wants to continue and improve on what Oscar started here with better labor and management relations and the company being a place that we want to work at but that passengers talk about like with SWA. (We’ll see how that goes. Get us a contract then).
CLE will only fly to and from a hub. It’s not going to be a base again.
Excited about 321XLR. Said planning to add 11 destinations to Europe and maybe N. Africa.
Said trade war is hurting us in China Still planning to grow some in Asia, but not China. Singapore is our biggest competitor in Asia. Even though a SA partner, probably our smallest partner. Big competitor.
Doing a lot more European flying.
Not getting rid of any 777’s, just moving them around the system. Said the A350 isn’t dead, but they are waiting to see what happens with the 777. The A350 is a. 777 replacement if they get them.
ORD will be a 787 base.
Jan 17, 2020, 8:28 am
#13
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: CLE
Programs: UA
Posts: 289
The "source" was admittedly hearsay (a widely copied-and-pasted report from a conversation with a pilot late last year... I must have seen this in a dozen places so no attribution) but turned out to be right on the money on several items, in bold with my editorializing in italics:
Nothing Earth-shattering, but in retrospect it seems credible.
Nothing Earth-shattering, but in retrospect it seems credible.
Jan 17, 2020, 8:37 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: CLE
Programs: UA GS+LT UC, AA EXP+LT PLT, Fairmont LT PLT, Marriott PLT, Hilton DIA, Hyatt Glob, Avis CHM
Posts: 4,670
I asked United and the PD reporter about this back when UA announced EWR-DCA shuttle like service. That guess turned out to be correct.
More coverage on my blog here. But in summary from United PR:
"This weekend we will be making changes to our Cleveland schedule and routes that serve the New York City and Washington D.C. metro areas by adding larger aircraft to New York/Newark and Washington Dulles respectively, and suspending service into New York LaGuardia and Washington Reagan National Airports. There will be no decrease in the overall number of seats United offers between Cleveland and these cities and in fact, we expect to increase the total number of premium seats in 2020 as a result of these changes."
"Another piece of news we shared today - we shared that we will be upgauging our flights to ORD (in addition to EWR and IAD) resulting in slight overall seat growth but additional premium seats year-over-year. We’ll also expand our current schedule of nonstop flights from CLE to Florida this spring, with new weekend non-stop flights to TPA (Tampa), FLL (Ft. Lauderdale) and RSW (Ft. Myers)."
"The schedule will change over on March 29 to the CLE service to CLE and IAD. Customers who have already purchased travel from CLE will be automatically rebooked to EWR or IAD or connect at Chicago to LGA or DCA."
More coverage on my blog here. But in summary from United PR:
"This weekend we will be making changes to our Cleveland schedule and routes that serve the New York City and Washington D.C. metro areas by adding larger aircraft to New York/Newark and Washington Dulles respectively, and suspending service into New York LaGuardia and Washington Reagan National Airports. There will be no decrease in the overall number of seats United offers between Cleveland and these cities and in fact, we expect to increase the total number of premium seats in 2020 as a result of these changes."
"Another piece of news we shared today - we shared that we will be upgauging our flights to ORD (in addition to EWR and IAD) resulting in slight overall seat growth but additional premium seats year-over-year. We’ll also expand our current schedule of nonstop flights from CLE to Florida this spring, with new weekend non-stop flights to TPA (Tampa), FLL (Ft. Lauderdale) and RSW (Ft. Myers)."
"The schedule will change over on March 29 to the CLE service to CLE and IAD. Customers who have already purchased travel from CLE will be automatically rebooked to EWR or IAD or connect at Chicago to LGA or DCA."