Jan 24, 2020, 7:24 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
By 2023, UA has returned to the more traditional pre-COVID schedule update process. There are still some closer in changes but far less than during the COVID era.
UA publishes a schedule for 330 days in advance (called Beginning of Schedule) andin the past would make tweaks quarterly and things would be fairly settles 3-4 months out. Updates would occur Friday evening / Saturday morning (Chicago time). Routine additions could occur anytime.
Present updates are every Friday and sometimes mid-week usually focused on the next month and farther out.
Check Your UA Itineraries for Schedule Changes and what to do after one
20 Oct 2021
However, during the COVID era, UA has gone to a more dynamic and shorter-term setting of schedule (as has the other carriers). Presently UA, while UA is still publishing a schedule for 330 days in advance it reflects pre-COVID operational levels and is considered just a placeholder schedule. Then 3-5 weeks prior to a month, UA makes a major update of that month's schedule.
Examples (Major updates)
The October 2020 schedule was updated 4-5 September 2020
The November 2020 schedule was updated 2-3 October 2020
The December 2020 schedule was updated 30-31 October 2020
Holidays can move the major date a week earlier or later.
Weekly updates are still generally done over night Friday-Saturday (Chicago)
UA does not publish a summary of most schedule changes but a variety of sources below do and summaries / links of those sources can be found in this thread & wiki.
Always crosscheck with UA's Travel Notices , Coronavirus (COVID-19) travel waivers and information, www.united.com/coronavirus as the situation is dynamic
Other Resources and Statistics
Archive: COVID19 UA-Schedule {Archive}
new Archive : UA-Schedule changes {Archive}
UA publishes a schedule for 330 days in advance (called Beginning of Schedule) and
Present updates are every Friday and sometimes mid-week usually focused on the next month and farther out.
Check Your UA Itineraries for Schedule Changes and what to do after one
Examples (Major updates)
The October 2020 schedule was updated 4-5 September 2020
The November 2020 schedule was updated 2-3 October 2020
The December 2020 schedule was updated 30-31 October 2020
Holidays can move the major date a week earlier or later.
Weekly updates are still generally done over night Friday-Saturday (Chicago)
UA does not publish a summary of most schedule changes but a variety of sources below do and summaries / links of those sources can be found in this thread & wiki.
Always crosscheck with UA's Travel Notices , Coronavirus (COVID-19) travel waivers and information, www.united.com/coronavirus as the situation is dynamic
Other Resources and Statistics
- CDC Travel Notices (Worldwide)
- US State Department Advisories (Search or Click "Date Updated" to Sort by Date)
- US State Department - COVID-19 Country Specific Information
- John Hopkins' Incident Map
- Worldometer Statistics
- WHO Page on Covid-19
- IATA Latest Travel Document News
- UA's Page to Query TIMATIC Database (an IATA database with the current documentation and entry requirements worldwide
Archive: COVID19 UA-Schedule {Archive}
new Archive : UA-Schedule changes {Archive}
UA System Schedule changes
May 11, 2024, 1:09 pm
#152
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Rochester, NY USA
Programs: Hilton - Diamond, IHG - Platinum
Posts: 1,427
Thank you - I found changes to outbound and return on a trip in Oct/November. The return was no big deal, but the outbound cut the connection to short for me ( mobility issue - I walk much slower than I had just two years ago), so I made a change to a different connecting airport with a little more time
Last edited by Larrude; May 19, 2024 at 10:04 am
May 13, 2024, 9:20 am
#154
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Houston
Programs: UA GS 2.7MM & Lifetime UC, Qantas Platinum, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Platinum, HawaiianMiles
Posts: 8,814
May 14, 2024, 5:27 pm
#155
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,824
I haven't seen this posted elsewhere, but with a recent schedule change (maybe last week's?) it looks like UA is going to 3x daily LAX-BOS for the first time since ~2019 IIRC. Morning, noon, and redeye departures eastbound; and 2x morning and evening departures westbound. All on 7M9 until the winter schedule begins in late October, at which point it (tentatively) switches to 2x 752 and 1x 7M9. Wish they'd do a noon westbound to space out the schedule a bit more, but overall the frequency add is a win.
May 19, 2024, 6:42 am
#156
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,464
I haven't seen this posted elsewhere, but with a recent schedule change (maybe last week's?) it looks like UA is going to 3x daily LAX-BOS for the first time since ~2019 IIRC. Morning, noon, and redeye departures eastbound; and 2x morning and evening departures westbound. All on 7M9 until the winter schedule begins in late October, at which point it (tentatively) switches to 2x 752 and 1x 7M9. Wish they'd do a noon westbound to space out the schedule a bit more, but overall the frequency add is a win.
May 19, 2024, 2:06 pm
#157
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 5,824
I think I wrote in that thread or elsewhere that BOS-LAX and maybe BOS-SFO were reliably 100% 752 last winter and maybe the prior one, when the 752s are freed up from summer TATL flying. That's not very useful for half or more of the year, but it's not nothing.
May 23, 2024, 8:51 pm
#158
Join Date: Oct 2011
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 179
Head up that United has had a number of schedule changes tonight (which is out of sync with the usual Wed/Fri Sched Changes). Out of the 6 reservations that I have between Nov 2024 and Feb 2025, 4 of them have had schedule changes and/or flights have been cancelled. On 2 cases they were outright cancelled flights, with re booking where new flight arrived at hub after the connecting flight has departed.
May 23, 2024, 10:16 pm
#160
Join Date: Oct 2011
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 179
Mostly short haul this round (domestic, Canada, and Central America), last week there were some longhaul winter schedule changes on my other reservations (ie. AKL-LAX was cancelled)
May 24, 2024, 9:02 am
#161
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,464
Yeah, some pretty big changes last night. YVR-DEN is now a lot of AC codeshare and afternoon/evening flights are gone. We were re-routed via SFO on 10/27 with the red-eye still sowing a 752 - first day they are showing 752. Not convinced that will stay, but Ill otherwise take YVR-SFO-BOS; nothing wrong with a lie-flat 
Had some other changed including LH changed for W24/25, so likely a larger *A schedule update
Had some other changed including LH changed for W24/25, so likely a larger *A schedule update
May 24, 2024, 1:52 pm
#163
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,464
May 24, 2024, 3:22 pm
#164
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
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Posts: 52,209
Schedule change for YVR-LAX March 2025 this morning. Only around 45 minutes, but enough to trigger the "free change" option.