As part of United Airlines' announcement of offering five new flights from London Heathrow to the United States, the carrier is introducing a new service to Boston from the UK's busiest airport in March 2022. Following this news, Simple Flying caught up with Bob Schumacher - Director Sales, United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel, South Africa and Off-line markets, United Airlines, about his company’s plans.
Industry changes
A key update among United’s competitors led to the airline launching its route to Boston from London. American Airlines and British Airways have held a joint venture that traces its way back to 2010. However, last year, the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) found that there was not enough competition on certain routes between the US and Europe. As a result, the group proposed that the two airlines would have to give up their slots if a rival wanted to begin flight to specific destinations.
Notably, Boston was one of these sites. United had been looking into flying to the Northeastern city from the capital of the UK for several years. Yet, it took the CMA review for this factor to be taken to the next stage.
Making the most out of opportunities
Ultimately, a remedy slot became officially available. As Schumacher puts it, his company applied for this because it believes it is “the US' largest international carrier.”
“We have the brand presence and representation in the market, which is so mature on both sides of the pond,. So, we can sustain a route that needs good competition and we will certainly be providing that. We will be operating in our high-J configuration 767 business class seats in the front, and we all make a very strong competitive system in that marketplace.” Schumacher told Simple Flying.
“We have a huge portfolio of US corporate accounts. Some of them have sub-offices, some have head offices, and some have regional offices in that marketplace. We know the East Coast very well. We've served East Coast very well. But, it's been historically or will be until the end of March over New York and over Washington. This is our chance to connect further up, if you will, and to offer a wider variety of transatlantic connections."
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The demand is there
United first pushed out its premium-heavy 767-300ERs to New York from London in September 2019. The carrier was looking to usher in a new era with this configuration, catering to new business segments emerging across the Atlantic. Unfortunately, the global health crisis rocked operations between the UK and the US for over a year and a half and halted the progress.
Nonetheless, United has been busy adding premium seating to its aircraft despite the challenging conditions. Now, with US travel restrictions relaxing from November 8th, the airline shouldn’t struggle to fill these seats in this next chapter amid plenty of pent-up demand.
What are your thoughts about United Airlines’ expansion to Boston from London? What do you make of the plans for this route? Let us know what you think of the carrier’s operations and the prospects in the comment section.