Airlines, it turns out, have supply chain problems, too: Not enough pilots and in some cases not enough planes. United is among the latest to face those issues, sharply cutting regional service from Washington, DC.
United’s decision to suspend service to 14 cities from Washington will force travelers to the suspended cities to either find another carrier, or to fly first to either Newark or Chicago, hubs still linked to the dropped cities, which include Ashville, NC, Bangor, ME, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and more.
United CEO Scott Kirby has said that pilot shortages are the main factor behind the airline’s parking as many as 100 regional jets, mainly operated by contractors under the United Express label. Eleven other cities have lost United service altogether in the past year.
American has made similar cuts, though not as many. In some cases, including its New York-to-Boston Shuttle, it has shifted the routes to its Northeast Alliance partner, JetBlue. For American, a hardware shortage is also involved; it has limited its use of wide-body planes to four domestic routes in order to keep them available for international routes. At the same time, it has postponed resumption of several international routes because of late deliveries of new 787s by Boeing.
