A new push by United Airlines to expand its north-south US network has intensified competition from Washington DC to other key East Coast cities.
United's expansion strategy in the region relies heavily on its Dulles, Virginia-based regional partner, Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA), which operates as a United Express carrier. As ACA has added more Canadair Regional Jets to its fleet - it has 20 - the carrier has been able to upgrade links to destinations such as New York LaGuardia to an all-jet service.
In effect, United has created an alternative shuttle service, with hourly departures from Dulles to both LaGuardia and Boston. However, United says it has no near-term plans to bring its West Coast Shuttle operation to the East Coast.
The United Express service operates from Dulles, sited 50km (30 miles) from Washington downtown compared with the Ronald Reagan-National airport situated just minutes away from the Capitol. However, many high-technology companies and residential areas are located in the Reston/Herndon areas that surround Dulles, providing a lucrative customer base for a frequent service to New York and Boston. United has also scheduled the last United Express flight from New York to Washington to leave at 9.30pm, the latest flight from LaGuardia to any of the three Washington airports.
While United Airlines plans growth of less than 3% systemwide, it anticipates a 60% growth at Dulles. Such an intense focus has prompted established east coast carriers to add services. US Airways is making its service between Boston and Washington National part of the US Airways Shuttle system from July, with an hourly service each weekday, and is also integrating its hourly services between Washington Dulles, Boston and LaGuardia into the Shuttle service. "The Boston-New York-Washington corridor is the most important business market in the world," points out Michael Scheeringa, vice president of US Airways Shuttle.
Delta Air Lines also provides hourly service between the three cities with its Delta Shuttle operation.
Source: Airline Business
