By Joey Gerardi
United Airlines Announces Five New Routes
While most airlines are slowly starting to bring back routes that were previously operated before the coronavirus pandemic, United Airlines has announced five new routes, three of which will be new destinations to the carrier’s route map, per OAG Schedules. Two of the new routes will be from the carrier’s Houston George Bush Intercontinental hub, and the remaining three will be from their hub in Denver.
From the airlines Denver hub the carrier will begin flights to Alamosa, Colo. and Rochester, Minn. on Oct. 1, 2020 and to Sioux City, Iowa on Oct. 14, 2020.
Alamosa will be a completely new city for the carrier. The small Colorado city is part of the Essential Air Service program. The mainline carrier’s regional partner SkyWest won the EAS contract over the carrier that currently serves there, the San Francisco-based Boutique Air. According to the EAS document describing the contract that SkyWest had won, they will operate up to two daily flights from the Mile High City.
Sioux City, Iowa is another new city in United’s route map, launching will begin Oct. 14 with one daily flight. United’s service will give Sioux City airport its third nonstop destination and second carrier, as only American Airlines currently operates there from Chicago’s O’Hare International and Dallas Ft. Worth International Airport.
The third and final new city for the carrier’s Denver hub will be Rochester, Minn. which will launch on the first of October and will be flown once daily. This won’t be a new destination for United, as they already serve this small Minnesotan city from their Chicago O’Hare hub.
The new routes that will begin from their Rocky Mountain hub (Photo: GreatCircleMapper)
From their Southwestern hub at George Bush Intercontinental, United will add two new routes, one of which is to a new city for the carrier.
The first new route will begin on Oct. 1 and will operate to Chattanooga, Tenn once a day. The route will complement existing service to the Tennessean city by the carrier to their Chicago O’Hare base.
The second new route from Houston will be to the third new city for the airline and will be another welcome addition to their list of Intra-Texas routes. Service to Abilene, Texas begins on Oct. 21, 2020. This new route is a milestone for the Abilene Regional Airport as it will only be their second carrier and second destination overall. The only service this small Texan city currently sees is an American Airlines flight operated by Envoy Air to Dallas Ft. Worth
The new routes that United will begin from their Texan hub (Photo: GreatCircleMapper)
All new routes will be flown by United Airlines’ regional partner SkyWest on board the CRJ-200 aircraft. All routes are subject to schedule changes.
Joe has always been interested in planes, for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself and the first thing he did with the license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. When he has the time (and money) he likes to take spotting trips to any location worth a visit. He’s currently enrolled at Western Michigan University earning a degree in Aviation Management and Operations.