The United Express CRJ-200 is arriving into Chicago O'Hare.
While the aviation industry is on the rise, pilot shortages are now facing carriers in full stride. Small communities are being hit the most. At the beginning of January 2022, United exited 11 small cities, all of which were served by small 50-seat regional aircraft.
SkyWest requested to end the Essential Air Service in Plattsburgh and Ogdensburg in upstate NY in the middle of January.
Skywest, under the United Express brand, is requesting to end 29 more cities, all of which are in the government-funded EAS program. The full list of cities they are requesting to end.
The airline is requesting to be terminated because of pilot shortages, and all of the routes to the communities above are using 50-seat CRJ-200s.
SkyWest operates the United Airlines CRJ200 at the Muskegon-County Airport.
Skywest is giving a 90-day notice in all of the above communities, according to a document posted on regulations.gov. Most of the cities are still in the middle of their contract term and some have just recently started. Similar to Plattsburgh and Ogdensburg, the DOT will most likely deny the request until a new carrier is found.
SkyWest is the only one of the 15 cities that they operate on behalf of Delta Connection that is not ending at this point in time.
The Delta Connection CRJ-200 is in the city of Butte, Mont. Joey Gerardi is the owner of AirlineGeeks.
The United brand will have left 42 cities in just over six months if they are all approved. All of them are on 50-seat jets.
This will be the end of the United Express banner in the east of Wyoming, with the exception of Presque Isle, Maine. Presque Isle, Maine; Laramie and Cody, Wyo.; Dickinson, N.D.; Prescott, Ariz.; Vernal and Moab, Utah; and West Yellowstone, Mont. are the only remaining cities that will still see scheduled service on a United branded aircraft.
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