It's never too early to prepare for college football season, given all the exciting action and anticipation that comes from players and fans alike. This is why United Airlines is helping college football fans ease their travel preparations this coming fall by adding more than 120 new flights to its schedule. The new additions will include never-before-flown connections to several away games, an undoubted thrill for fans to look forward to.
Listening to the customers
It might seem strange for the Star Alliance member airline to ramp up that many flights while still struggling with scheduling woes. But, the increase comes after results from a recent survey of the airline's loyalty customers showed that more than 80% of avid college football fans are likely to fly to see a game this season. And it wasn't just the customers but United Airlines staff who were equally devoted college football fans. Considering the high levels of eagerness from both customers and staff, it seems understandable that the airline would seek to ramp up its schedule.
The new connections will include some of the country's biggest powerhouses. Michael Weeks, Managing Director of domestic schedule development and publication at United Airlines, said:
"College football fans love following their team on the road, and this year, we're making it easier than ever. We're flying nonstop to some of the most historic football towns in the country, including South Bend, Columbus, and Baton Rouge. We're also significantly expanding our service on the west coast to help more PAC 12 fans travel to cheer on their teams."
To align with the game schedules, United Airlines has arranged its flight schedules as such:
Date |
New flights |
Game |
September 9th to 11th |
Two direct, round-trip flights between Birmingham and Austin |
University of Alabama at the University of Texas Austin |
One direct, round-trip flight between Spokane and Madison |
Washington State University at the University of Wisconsin-Madison |
|
September 16th to 18th |
One direct, round-trip flight between Oklahoma City and Lincoln |
University of Oklahoma at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
September 23rd to 25th |
One direct, round-trip flight between San Jose and Seattle |
Stanford at the University of Washington |
September 22nd to 25th |
One direct, round-trip flight between Madison and Columbus |
University of Wisconsin-Madison at Ohio State |
October 7th to 9th |
One direct, round-trip flight between Knoxville and Baton Rouge |
University of Tennessee at the Louisiana State University |
October 14th and 16th |
One direct, round-trip flight between State College and Detroit |
Penn State University at the University of Michigan |
October 21st to 23rd |
One direct, round-trip flight between Cedar Rapids and Columbus |
University of Iowa at the Ohio State |
November 4th to 6th |
One direct, round-trip flight between Birmingham and Baton Rouge |
University of Alabama at Louisiana State University |
One direct, round-trip flight between Greenville and South Bend |
Clemson University at the University of Notre Dame |
|
November 25th to 27th |
One direct, round-trip flight between Sound Bend and Los Angeles |
University of Notre Dame at the University of Southern California |
Compensating for a plagued domestic sector
In light of the scheduling woes that United Airlines has been struggling with for the past few months, the airline's domestic sector has been taking quite the hit as it was faced with heavy cancelations. The cancelations weren't due to a lack of staff on United Airlines' end, and the airline's Chief Executive Officer has suggested that the aviation industry is slowly improving in terms of delays and rates of cancelations. Nonetheless, boosting up its fall domestic schedule by pairing it with the college football seasons is certainly a strategic play by United Airlines in compensating for an unfortunate summer.
However, the fall season is shy by a couple of months, which still gives the possibility that the chaos within the aviation industry can either continue improving or snowball to worse. Should thngs continue on the path of improvement, college football fans will undoubtedly experience the thrill of having several travel options with United Airlines. On the other hand, if the chaos were to snowball, the fans might experience what so many passengers have been experiencing all summer - cancelations, delays, missing baggage, and pure frustration.