United Airlines is planning its biggest domestic schedule since March 2020 as US airlines become increasingly optimistic about a surge in holiday travel.
The new schedule will emphasize connections between the US Midwest to warm-weather cities like Las Vegas and Orlando as well as offering nearly 70 daily flights to ski destinations.
It comes as holiday travel flight searches on united.com and the airline’s app are up 16 percent compared to 2019.
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The airline expects the busiest travel days for the Thanksgiving holiday will be Wednesday, November 24 and Sunday, November 28, while popular days for winter holiday travel are expected to be Thursday, December 23 and Sunday, January 2.
“We’re seeing a lot of pent-up demand in our data and are offering a December schedule that centers on the two things people want most for the holidays: warm sunshine and fresh snow,” said Ankit Gupta, vice president of network planning and scheduling at United.
“We know families and friends are eager to reunite this holiday season, which is why we’re thrilled to add new flights that will help them connect and celebrate together.”
In December, United will begin new direct flights to Las Vegas and Phoenix from Cleveland, and to Orlando from Indianapolis.
The carrier will resume eight popular direct flights from Midwest cities, including routes to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa, offering the most mainline departures the airline has flown from Cleveland since 2014 including direct service to Nassau and Cancun.
United will offer up to 195 daily flights to 12 destinations in Florida this winter, the most flights to the Sunshine State in company history.
United is also resuming direct flights from Columbus, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh to Fort Myers – which were some of the airline’s most popular point-to-point flights last winter.
The airline will also offer 66 daily flights to over a dozen ski destinations across the U.S., including a brand-new service beginning this December between Orange County and Aspen.
This complements flights to Aspen/Snowmass, Bishop/Mammoth, Bozeman/Big Sky, Eagle/Vail, Kalispell, Gunnison/Crested Butte, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Jackson Hole, Montrose/Telluride, Reno/Tahoe, Sun Valley from its hub airports.
Earlier this year, United announced that it would add 150 flights to warm weather destinations this winter season.
