CLEVELAND, Ohio – United Airlines is eliminating its three-times daily service between Cleveland and Boston in March -- just in time for Delta Air Lines to add the route.
United’s Cleveland-to-Boston service goes away March 7. Meanwhile, Delta’s three-times-daily route begins on April 1, according to announcements from both airlines.
The Delta flights will be on 76-seat Embraer aircraft, with 12 first-class seats, 20 comfort-plus seats and 44 seats in the main cabin, according to the airline. Final details on the schedule will be released on December 22, when the route goes on sale.
Two other carriers, JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines, also fly between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Boston Logan. Both JetBlue and Spirit entered the Cleveland market shortly after United pulled its hub here in 2014, launching service to Boston and other markets, and bringing down fares.
JetBlue, the predominant carrier on the route, has three daily flights to the Massachusetts capital, which will increase to four (on most days) in early May. Spirit flies the route seasonally, with daily service resuming in May.
In a statement, United said: “Boston and Cleveland continue to be important destinations in United’s route network. We continuously monitor business and leisure demand across the system and during the most recent review made the difficult decision to discontinue service on the Cleveland-Boston route effective March 7, 2019. Today’s announcement does not change United’s plans to expand Cleveland service to nine popular business and leisure destinations this winter.”
The elimination of Boston leaves United with 15 destinations from Cleveland. That’s down from a high of 59 in early 2014.
Because of the competition on the Boston route, fares have dropped by more than 40 percent in recent years, which may be why United decided to exit the route. According to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average one-way fare on the route is $174, down from $299 in 2013.
United spokesman Jonathan Guerin said that even with the elimination of the Boston route, United seat capacity from Cleveland in March 2019 will be 11 percent higher than in March 2018. That’s a result of increases in flights to several cities in Florida, Los Angeles and San Francisco, plus the use of larger aircraft to hubs in Houston, Denver and Washington, D.C.
Total number of seats on United departures from Cleveland is up more than 13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to fourth quarter of 2017, he said.
The Delta announcement is part of a broader expansion in Boston, which includes numerous new routes to Europe, including flights to London, Dublin, Lisbon and other cities.