United Airlines has pared back its summer services from Heathrow but will still operate a schedule “greater than ever before”.
That is according to United UK and Ireland director Bob Schumacher, who told Travel Weekly: “We’ve put more resource into London than ever before.”
The carrier has cut daily services to the US from 22 to 19 in line with Heathrow’s cap on departing passengers, announced on July 12, and facilitated by the government’s temporary relaxation of rules on slot use.
Schumacher said: “We were heading to 22 flights a day from Heathrow [to the US] this summer, but we’re constrained. We have enough ground staff. We have the crews, but the infrastructure needs to be there.
“There are delays, so standard crew shift patterns are not working, and there is Covid. Everything is fragile [and] everything has to work together. The whole of Heathrow has to work. So we had to adjust the schedule.”
He explained: “On the back of Heathrow’s request, we’ve pared back to five daily flights to New York Newark. Washington has gone from three daily flights to two and Chicago from three to two.”
Schumacher revealed United’s hub at New York Newark “is under similar strain”, with the carrier taking out 50 flights a day from the airport.
However, he insisted: “We’re operating a greater schedule than ever before, when some of our competitors will be at 70% of 2019 levels.
“We’re the largest carrier across the North Atlantic this summer.”
He added: “The vast majority of passengers are coming and going pretty well. You might need to be at the airport a bit earlier and might have to wait a bit longer at security, but I would have given my eyeteeth for this ‘indigestion’ a year ago.
“[Air traffic in] Europe has gone from being in a catatonic state to 85% of pre-pandemic levels. That is going to cause indigestion, but travel is back.”
Despite the disruption, Schumacher said: “Demand is pushing up prices. Revenue levels are fantastic. Yields are terrific. We’re up on 2019 on revenue per available seat.
“US demand for Europe is exceptionally strong, facilitated by the very strong dollar.”