Why United Cut 16% Of Its Washington Dulles Regional Operations

United is to end 14 routes from Washington Dulles, with almost all operated by United Express’ 50-seat CRJ-200s. Supposedly driven by its pilot shortage, over half of the routes were introduced between 2018 and 2021. The cut means that 10% of United’s departures at its Dulles hub will be gone – along with 16% of its regional flying.

United CRJ-200 — Five of the 14 routes will shift to Newark and use three-class aircraft, indicating sufficiently high performance and importance. Photo: Glenn Beltz via Flickr.

What’s happening?

Following United recently removing nine airports from its route map and grounding about 100 regional jets because of the pilot shortage, the carrier’s attention has now shifted to Washington Dulles. Some 14 routes will end on March 3rd. As a United spokesperson said:

“As we continue to evaluate our network and closely match supply with demand, United is making adjustments to our East Coast operations, including suspending service between Washington Dulles and several regional markets, and shifting some service… to Newark.”

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The 14 routes cut at Washington Dulles

The 14 routes have 145 departures from Dulles between December 23rd and 29th, based on schedules submitted by United to data experts OAG. Although a little influenced by Christmas, the cuts mean that the airline has removed about one in ten of its departures from the hub, based on the current week.

Akron Canton (CAK): seven-weekly in the current week, 251 miles (405km)
Asheville (AVL): 14-weekly, 370 miles (596km)
Bangor (BGR): seven-weekly, 601 miles (967km)
Erie (ERI): seven-weekly, 259 miles (417km)
Grand Rapids (GRR): seven-weekly, 501 miles (807km)
Greensboro (GSO): 13-weekly, 239 miles (385km)
Greenville Spartanburg (GSP): 14-weekly, 384 miles (618km)
Harrisburg (MDT): seven-weekly, 94 miles (151km)
Ithaca (ITH): 14-weekly, 250 miles (403km)
Milwaukee (MKE): seven-weekly, 611 miles (984km)
Philadelphia (PHL): 20-weekly, 135 miles (217km)
Scranton Wilkes-Barre (AVP): seven-weekly, 189 miles (304km)
Wilmington (ILM): seven-weekly, 323 miles (520km)
State College (SCE): 14-weekly, 133 miles (214km)

United's route cuts at Washington Dulles — Eight of these routes were introduced since 2018, most in 2020 or 2021, suggesting performance may have been an important factor, especially when combined with the pilot shortage and the need to prioritize. Image: GCMap.

But, five routes are moving to Newark

While the loss is a clear blow to the regional communities that will now have less choice, it isn’t all bad news. Five routes will move to Newark instead, with all beginning on March 4th. Significantly, 50-seat CRJ-550s will be deployed, all operated by Gojet. Unlike the CRJ-200, these have three classes and will become increasingly important for United.

Harrisburg (MDT): 14-weekly in the week beginning March 4th, 141 miles (227km)
Ithaca (ITH): 14-weekly, 172 miles (276km)
Philadelphia (PHL): 21-weekly, 80 miles (129km)
Scranton Wilkes-Barre (AVP), 14-weekly, 93 miles (149km)
State College (SCE): 14-weekly, 193 miles (311km)

Cuts 16% of its RJ flights from Dulles

The 14 routes are currently almost exclusively operated by 50-seat CRJ-200s, but there are two exceptions. Grand Rapids sees the CRJ-550, as confirmed on United’s website, although Radarbox shows that it has recently been operated by the CRJ-700 instead. Meanwhile, Philadelphia sees the A320, Embraer 145, and CRJ-200, although 50-seaters have 70% of flights.

According to OAG, United has 847 Dulles departures by all regional jets this week. Therefore, the loss of these 14 routes – with 139 departures by 50-seaters – means that 16% of regional jet flights have been removed.

What do you make of the cuts? Let us know in the comments.