United Airlines is cutting its monthly flight schedules at Denver International Airport by as much as 13 percent for the remainder of the year. But the carrier — DIA’s largest — said the pullback is not a sign that the Denver hub is in trouble.
Data supplied by OAG/UBM Aviation show United, newly merged with Continental Airlines, has scheduled 6.6 percent fewer average daily departures at DIA next month than in September 2010, about 10 percent fewer in October, 13.4 percent fewer in November and 5.6 percent fewer in December.
The data include flights flown by United Express affiliates.
“We remain committed to Denver as a hub,” said United spokeswoman Christen David. “In response to the rising cost of fuel, earlier this year we announced capacity reductions for the third and fourth quarters. Denver also experiences an annual capacity reduction during the slower fall travel season.”
Data show United is reducing departures and seat capacity for the remainder of the year at many of its other hubs and stations, including Newark, N.J.; Washington Dulles; Los Angeles International; and Chicago O’Hare.
But the cuts in flights and the number of seats at DIA generally are deeper than at the other hubs and stations.
United is cutting average daily seat capacity at DIA between 11 percent and 17 percent from September to December, depending on the month, according to the OAG/UBM data.
David noted that even accounting for its reduced schedule at DIA, “United still operates over 400 flights per day out of Denver, more than double any other carrier.”
“Not yanking the hub”
United’s monthly flight schedule typically has totaled at least 400 daily departures over the past year and a half, but the OAG/UBM data show average daily departures dipping to 343 in November, down from 396 in the same month last year.
The data reflect a combination of United and Continental operations.
Asked about United’s schedule reductions, DIA chief financial officer Pat rick Heck said, “I don’t like them. From our perspective, it’s not good news to see United pulling Denver down.”
But Heck said there is no indication that United is reducing its long-term investment in the DIA hub or that the carrier is “pulling away from Denver entirely.”
Aviation consultant Michael Boyd of BoydGroup International in Evergreen agreed that “United is pulling out some capacity, but the airport is right — they are not yanking the hub.”
Data furnished by Boyd’s company show United (minus Continental) operating about 4,000 fewer departures at DIA through the end of this year, compared with the same four-month period last year.
That translates into a capacity cut of about 622,000 United seats through Dec. 31.
“They are shifting some flying to the Continental brand,” Boyd said. “But that increase still leaves about 450,000 fewer seats net between the two.”
United’s David said despite the planned reduction in flying, the airline has no furloughs planned for the Denver hub, which has about 4,200 employees.
“We’re actually recalling furloughed employees and increasing part-timers to full time,” she said.
DIA traffic could remain same
Earlier this year in a presentation to Denver City Council members, Heck and DIA manager Kim Day noted that the airport’s “10-year financial strategy” included a fairly conservative prediction of 2 percent overall growth in passenger traffic at DIA this year when compared with 2010.
United’s reduced schedule for the remainder of this year could mean DIA’s 2011 traffic will be about even with last year’s total of a little less than 52 million passengers.
DIA is the nation’s fifth-busiest airport in passenger traffic.
DIA’s year-end traffic total depends on what other carriers do with their flight totals and seat capacity, Heck said.
“Our current schedule is set through March 9, 2012, and it won’t change,” said Southwest Airlines spokesman Chris Mainz. “Beyond that, we’ll continue to look to grow our service in Denver, adding new flights and destinations as demand dictates.”
Among mainline carriers — excluding express operations — Southwest is DIA’s second-largest airline, behind the new United-Continental combination. Frontier Airlines is No. 3.
Southwest will add two daily nonstops between Denver and Atlanta in February — a byproduct of the airline’s acquisition of AirTran Airways, Mainz said.
Jeffrey Leib: 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com
