United Airlines will add new service to eight cities from its Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Los Angeles and Newark hubs next spring, including new flights to Elmira in New York.
The Star Alliance carrier will add new service to El Paso and Fresno from Chicago O'Hare; Jacksonville from Denver; Kalispell, Medford, Missoula and Redmond from Los Angeles; and Elmira from Newark in April and June 2018, FlightGlobal schedules show.
Elmira is the only new destination among the routes for United. The airline previously served the Central New York city from Chicago O'Hare from 2014 to 2016.
The carrier may see an opportunity in American Airlines exit from Elmira in February 2017 after nearly 45 years. Delta Air Lines is the only mainline carrier serving the city.
United will fly a mix of Bombardier CRJ200, Embraer ERJ-145, Embraer 170 and Embraer 175 aircraft on the new routes, schedules show. The Fresno, Kalispell and Missoula services will operate seasonally.
The airline has spoken repeatedly about expanding connecting flows over its hubs, with president Scott Kirby saying the move will boost revenues, especially between smaller markets with less competition.
"The key to making Los Angeles work is really having lots of connectivity and feed here," he told employees in September, saying United was planning new service to smaller cities from the airport, including to Medford.
Kirby has made similar comments about Denver, which he calls United's "most profitable" hub.
Jacksonville will be the ninth new destination for the airline and its regional partners from Denver in 2018. Others include London Heathrow, Moab (Utah) and Paine Field near Seattle.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
