United Airlines is cutting a dozen routes from its network partly due to reduced demand, a spokesperson for the carrier indicated.
The cuts, first reported by The Points Guy, primarily affect travelers departing from Los Angeles and San Francisco, as United is cutting four routes from each of the two air hubs.
The 12 routes being dropped from United’s schedule are:
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Colorado Springs Airport
- LAX to Dane County Regional Airport (Madison, Wisconsin)
- LAX to Eugene Airport (Oregon)
- LAX to Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport (Oregon)
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
- SFO to St. Louis Lambert International Airport
- SFO to Will Rogers World Airport (Oklahoma City)
- SFO to Dane County Regional Airport
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Santa Barbara Airport (California)
- ORD to Eugene Airport
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston) to Edmonton International Airport (Alberta, Canada)
- Newark Liberty International Airport (New Jersey) to Northwest Arkansas National Airport
When asked to comment for the cuts, a spokesperson for United Airlines indicated that decreased demand was the reason for the change. She said, however, that United plans to resume “most” of the routes at some point.
“We regularly adjust our schedule for a variety of reasons, including demand and the broader needs of our network,” the spokesperson wrote in an email shared with Nexstar. “These are primarily seasonal changes and we plan to resume most of these routes at a future time.”
News of United’s plan to cut 12 of its routes comes amid reports of a pilot shortage affecting the airline industry. United CEO Scott Kirby had hinted at staffing issues as a result of a pilot shortage since at least the summer of 2021, when remarked on an episode of “Axios on HBO” that “the military produces far fewer pilots today than they did … in the Cold War era,” The Hill reported at the time.
More recently, Kirby told investors that the airline industry could be suffering for years as a result of too few pilots.
“The pilot shortage for the industry is real, and most airlines are simply not going to be able to realize their capacity plans because there simply aren’t enough pilots, at least not for the next five-plus years,” Kirby said in the spring of 2022, NewsNation reported.
United’s spokesperson did not indicate when United planned to resume any of the 12 affected routes, or which ones could be returning. The Points Guy, however, reported that United still serves all of the affected destination airports (Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, St. Louis Lambert International Airport, etc.) from other hubs.