Despite US Reopening Setbacks, United Hopes To Add 25,000 More Flights In August

United Airlines on Wednesday said it would add 25,000 flights in August in an effort to capitalize on new demand by offering travel options largely focused on vacation destinations.

“While travel demand remains a fraction of what it was at the end of 2019, customers are slowly returning to flying, with a preference for leisure destinations, trips to reunite with friends and family, and getaways to places that encourage social distancing,” the airline said in its official statement.

With this planned increase, United would still only be running roughly 50% of the flights that it ran domestically in August of last year and 25% of the international flights. In comparison, this month it is expected to run 30% of the domestic flights and 16% of the international flights that it ran in July 2019.

Patrick Quayle, United’s vice president of international network and alliances, explained that the company’s expansion plan is based on consumer data. While the demand for flights is on the rise, many of the actual tickets being purchased are one-way, suggesting that many of the customers behind this trend are merely returning home, not visiting family or going on vacation.

Nevertheless, United’s plan will include a doubling of the flights out of major hubs in New York and Newark from the amount set to run in July. In the interest of targeting potential vacationers, the airline will also begin offering flights to and from national park locations and mountain getaway destinations, including Aspen, Colorado; Bangor, Maine; Bozeman, Montana; and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

“We’re adding in flights to places we know customers want to travel to, like outdoor recreation destinations where social distancing is easier, but doing so in a way that’s flexible,” Ankit Gupta, vice president of domestic network planning at the airline, explained.

United's decision comes in a week when as at least 16 states have shifted their reopening plans amid a surge in coronavirus cases across the country.