United’s Operation at Cleveland Hopkins International (CLE)
The United / Continental merger in 2010 brought great change to the new airline’s operation at Cleveland Hopkins (CLE). Once operating up to 300 flights per day, CLE quickly began shedding flights with a focus shift to the airline’s larger hubs. Today, United flies from Cleveland to all of their major hubs; ORD, DEN, EWR, IAD, IAH, LAX and SFO and a few leisure routes; MCO, TPA, RSW, FLL, CUN plus new seasonal service to PHX and LAS.
CLE by the numbers (data from 5/22/24 schedule):
Total Flights: 31
Total Seats: 4,579
Top Destinations: Chicago (ORD) 5 flights, 776 seats; Newark (EWR) 5 flights, 580 seats; Houston (IAH) 3 flights, 524 seats; Denver (DEN) 3 flights, 498 seats
Interesting facts:
All mainline flights on this date are 737 family aircraft with the 737-8 Max and 737-700 being the most common equipment, each operating 7 flights
Only 4 of the 31 flights are operated by United Express, all being Embraer 175s
Looking Forward:
What is the future of United presence at Cleveland Hopkins? Will it ever become a hub again with 300 flights per day like in the early 2000s? Unfortunately, the odds of this happening are slim to none. However, the resumption of PHX and LAS service shows the airline knows Cleveland is a market with valuable customers still loyal to the airline. Like many ex-hub airports, many of which are also in or close to the midwest (AA at STL, Delta at CVG & MEM, and US Air at PIT), these markets are left with several routes without direct service, or at best sporadic LCC/ULCC service. If United decides to add service at CLE, below are a list of potential routes and rationale.
Possible routes for United:
CLE-AUS - Daily Embraer 175 or 737-700 service. No airline serves CLE or Akron / Canton (CAK) to Austin (AUS). United likely connects several passengers everyday through IAH or ORD to Austin. With service from AUS-IND, CVG, CMH, and PIT; Cleveland is a market ripe for service to AUS
CLE-SAN - Seasonal Saturday 737-800/8 Max service. Large market unserved from CLE or CAK. Breeze Airways recently announced service from SAN to CVG, and PIT and Southwest will fly to CMH, IND, MKE, and PIT service in summer ‘24. Cleveland is a market missed by both of these airlines
CLE-JAX/MSY/PNS/PWM - Seasonal Saturday Embraer 175 service. 4 markets unserved from Northeast Ohio, likely with enough demand
CLE-MKE/MCI/BDL - Daily Embraer 175 service. 3 larger regional markets with business demand currently unserved from Cleveland
CLE-BOS/DCA/LGA - 1x-3x daily Embraer 175 service. United tried to sustain these routes in the past but shifted focus on their EWR and IAD hubs. While unlikely, with COVID-19 in the past, and a return of business travel demand these routes could see resumptions
CLE-FRA - Daily A321XLR service. Aer Lingus recently launched service to Dublin (DUB) and United is likely watching how this route performs closely. With A321XLR deliveries beginning in 2024, United has a new option to link Cleveland with their Star Alliance partner Lufthansa’s Frankfurt (FRA) hub