United Airlines plans big expansion of flights to Europe ahead of summer travel season

United Airlines plans to offer more flights across the Atlantic this summer than in 2019, a bet that international travel will recover strongly. despite the persistent pandemic.

United said on Tuesday it would increase transatlantic passenger capacity by 25% from pre-pandemic levels to a combination of new and old favorite destinations such as London.

Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of the airline’s international network, said it was the largest transatlantic rise in United’s history.

“We will be the largest transatlantic carrier,” he said.

At the end of this week, United will start serving several new destinations that it named last fall, including the Portuguese Azores and the Canary Islands of Spain. The company is also adding flights, for example, jumping to 22 daily flights from the United States to London in late May.

Even before Tuesday’s announcement, United had scheduled more passenger capacity in Europe in June and July than its nearest rivals: 15% more than Delta Air Lines and 36% more than American Airlines. , according to data from the research firm Cirium. Each airline also has European airlines.

United’s annual revenue from US-Europe flights fell from $ 7.4 billion before the pandemic to $ 2.2 billion in 2020. Last year it rose to $ 3.4 billion, or 14% of total revenue.

United was the first major airline required vaccinations for all workers. The company said 99.7% of its approximately 67,000 employees have fulfilled the mandate. But 232 workers have not been vaccinated and are now facing extinction, United CEO Scott Kirby told CBS Mornings in October.

The delay in ongoing travel was attributed to the testing requirement

There is a risk for United’s growth plans, as international flights have delayed the recovery of domestic travel. Airlines largely attribute this to a U.S. requirement that passengers pass COVID-19 negative one day after boarding a flight to the United States. Some Americans are unwilling to risk being stranded abroad for several additional days if they contract the virus during their trip.

“The testing requirement prevents many people from making trips that they would otherwise have made,” said Scott Keyes, a flight expert and founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, a website that finds airfare deals for its members. recently explained CBS MoneyWatch.

Carri Chan, a professor of decision-making, risk and operations at Columbia Business School, agreed that the test requirement has been a more important barrier to travel than the previous mask mandate. U.S. airlines have made the use of masks optional for both passengers and employees following a court ruling on April 18 that overturned the traffic masking rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

“Certainly, for international flights returning to the United States, there are people who are worried about the financial ramifications of not being able to return if they test positive.” she said CBS MoneyWatch in March. He also said that giving up COVID-19 precautions could decrease the travel demand of families with young children, who are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Despite the intense lobbying of the airlines, the Biden administration has not given any indication to raise the test requirement.

United had to cut its summer plans, delaying three new routes, due to a shortage of pilots and the landing of several dozen Boeing 777 aircraft after the Pratt & Whitney engine of a they exploded over Denver in February 2021.

Quayle said The Russian invasion of Ukraine it does not appear to affect reservations in Europe, as executives from other airlines have also said. United does not fly to Russia, Ukraine or neighboring countries. Its nearest destination is Dubrovnik, Croatia. Quayle said, however, that there could be “a bit” of weakness in connecting flights to Poland or Romania.