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Home » 787 » United Airlines Closing 787 Base in Houston, Moving it to Washington Dulles
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United Airlines Closing 787 Base in Houston, Moving it to Washington Dulles

Matthew April 7, 2017 4 Comments

United Airlines is closing its 787 base in Houston and moving it to Washington Dulles.

Starting with the Winter 2017 schedule (begins on 29 October 2017), United will operate the Dreamliner to:

  • Beijing
  • London Heathrow
  • Paris Charles de Gaulle
  • Sao Paulo Guarulhos

Frankfurt and Tokyo will remain 777s and other cities in Europe will remain on a mix of 767s and 757s.

Meanwhile in Houston, no international routes will be cut as a result of this change. Houston to Frankfurt will move to a 777 while Houston to Rio will move to a 767-300ER. The Houston – Denver repositioning flight will be cut, replaced by a San Francisco to Denver 787 to supply DEN with its aircraft to Tokyo Narita.

This Move is About Aircraft Utilization

Yesterday I wrote about United scrapping its flight between Seoul and Tokyo Narita and moving back three 737s to the mainland. The rationale: the aircraft can be better utilized with mainland flying.

A similar rationale underlies this change. United expects to free up the equivalent of one additional 787 of flying time by moving the 787 base to Washington Dulles.

This move also suggests that yields have not been as strong on the Beijing route.

No pilots will lose their jobs and 777s and 787s offer the same pay levels. Pilots will have to be re-trained on the new aircraft types, however.

United Fleet Changes

The carrier will add to its fleet, increasing overall capacity 2.5-2.5% this year despite the 747 retirements:

  • 6 Airbus A319s
  • 4 737-800s
  • 12 777-300ERs
  • 3 787-9s
  • 24 Embraer 175s

As mentioned, United will also retire 20 Boeing 747-400s throughout the year.

CONCLUSION

Thankfully, this aircraft shuffle will not affect any routes (thus far). Customers in Washington Dulles who now can fly on the 787s will benefit from better upgrade ratios and a 2-2-2 configuration on flights to Beijing as opposed to the 2-4-2 business class config on the 777. On the flip-side, Polaris First will no longer be an option to PEK.

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About Author

Matthew

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 120 countries over the last decade. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BBC, Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Al Jazeera, Toronto Star, and on NPR. Studying international relations, American government, and later obtaining a law degree, Matthew has a plethora of knowledge outside the travel industry that leads to a unique writing perspective. He has served in the United States Air Force, on Capitol Hill, and in the White House. His Live and Let's Fly blog shares the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs and promotions, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel. His writings on penandpassport.com offer more general musings on life from the eyes of a frequent traveler. He also founded awardexpert.com, a highly-personalized consulting service that aids clients in the effective use of their credit card points and frequent flyer miles. Clients range from retirees seeking to carefully use their nest egg of points to multinational corporations entrusting Matthew with the direction and coordination of company travel.

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4 Comments

  1. JH Reply
    April 7, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    United hates Houston & Houston hates United.

    • Matthew Reply
      April 7, 2017 at 3:01 pm

      And Matthew hates connecting in IAH, IAH-based crews (generally), and IAH-based call center (generally).

      If UA has to give up one hub, I’d love it to be IAH…

      • MeanMeosh Reply
        April 7, 2017 at 8:56 pm

        I have to ask, you’d seriously rather connect at the disaster that is IAD rather than IAH? One time was enough for me to say never again.

        (Also, much as we Dallasites like to poke fun of Houston, it’s the 4th largest city in the country. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon,,,)

        • Matthew Reply
          April 7, 2017 at 9:04 pm

          Granted, I’ve been connecting at IAD for over a decade now (before EWR/IAH were even UA choices), but it always works well for me–

          http://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2016/06/10/international-connections-at-washington-dulles/

          I consider the “temporary” UA terminal at IAD to be quite ugly and the moon buggies quaint, but I’d definitely rather connect in Dulles than Houston.

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