October Route Roundup: Where Airlines Are Adding Service usatoday.com

Airlines constantly tweak their schedules, trying to find profitable new routes or pulling the plug on ones that have underperformed. Airports and communities court these new services.

There are dozens of changes to airline routes each month. Here’s a look at some of the most interesting:

United Airlines adds a new destination …
United Airlines is adding Hilton Head, South Carolina, to its route map as part of a new round of domestic expansion for the Chicago-based carrier.

United will begin flying to Hilton Head, adding seasonal service to the South Carolina resort destination from its hubs at Chicago O’Hare, Newark (New Jersey) Liberty and Washington Dulles. Schedules will vary from Saturday-only service from Newark to twice-daily service from Washington Dulles.

United will be just the second airline to fly from the Hilton Head airport. American already offers American Eagle regional service to its second-busiest hub in Charlotte, North Carolina.

FULL REPORT: United Airlines grows at hubs; new routes from NYC, D.C. and California

… and adjusts schedules at East Coast hubs
Beyond Hilton Head, United announced several new routes and schedule adjustments at its two big East Coast hubs: Newark Liberty and Washington Dulles.

From Newark, United will add daily nonstop service to Pensacola, Florida, and upgrade its schedule to Anchorage, Alaska, to daily service (from Saturday-only). The routes will be seasonal, beginning in June and running into September.

From Newark, United says it will be the only carrier flying nonstop to both Pensacola and Hilton Head and the only to fly to Anchorage from any of the big New York City-area airports.

In another change, United will shift several short-haul routes from congested Newark Liberty to Washington Dulles. The airline’s service from Elmira, New York; Lexington, Kentucky; and Manchester, New Hampshire, will move from Newark to Dulles next year. That opens up space in United’s Newark schedule, allowing it to add new routes and additional flights to existing destinations, including St. Louis; Kansas City, Missouri; and Omaha, Nebraska.

In addition to the “shifted” routes, United also is adding one new route from Dulles. Flights to Asheville, North Carolina, begin Feb. 14. The Lexington route will begin from Dulles on Feb. 14 and the Manchester and Elmira routes move to Dulles on March 31.