United Airlines has claimed some of Spirit’s service recently cut from Newark. United will begin flights to Chattanooga and Columbia from Newark.
Spirit Airlines’ financial struggles have become a constant headline in the American aviation industry. The carrier recently announced widespread route cuts, with many of them affecting Spirit flights down South.
As expected, ULCC competitor Frontier Airlines quickly came in and claimed some of the abandoned markets. But a surprising competitor also stepped in. United Airlines has entered the competition for Spirit’s market share.
This week, United announced 15 new routes across the U.S., including new service from Newark Liberty International Airport to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Columbia, South Carolina. These are two markets that Spirit had recently entered, but is now leaving.
This expansion has sparked some tension between the airlines. In an interview with Yahoo News, Dan Quayle, United’s SVP of Global Network Planning and Alliances, explained, “If Spirit suddenly goes out of business, it will be incredibly disruptive, so we’re adding these flights to give their customers other options if they want or need them.”
He also made it clear that United had already planned on adding these routes from Newark prior to Spirit’s bankruptcy announcement.
Spirit countered through Duncan Dee, SVP of Corporate Communications, via The Points Guy: “Suggesting anything else is wishful thinking on the part of a high-cost airline looking to eliminate a low-cost competitor so they can fulfill their ultimate goal of charging American travelers the highest fares possible.”
From a competitive viewpoint, United holds a dominant market share at Newark. It’s one of the largest United hubs in the Northeast. Spirit’s annoyance can be justified, but the route expansion into their territory won’t significantly impact the market share at Newark.
What we did find unusual is that United, a legacy carrier, is stepping directly into routes that would fit better for another ULCC like Frontier or even JetBlue.
Frontier moving onto Spirit’s routes made complete sense. They’re competitors in the ULCC space. But United’s decision to add Chattanooga and Columbia was less predictable.
Especially with JetBlue’s partnership with United, it would have made more sense for JetBlue to operate these smaller leisure-focused routes, in our opinion.
United could have maintained its focus on connecting the bulk of passengers through Newark to its destinations spanning the globe. JetBlue would likely offer lower fares than United while also providing a better passenger experience for these routes compared to Spirit.
That alone could be an incentive for passengers, as well as soften the blow of Spirit’s departure for them.
From the viewpoint of Chattanooga- and Columbia-based passengers, this shift is unlikely to be positive. Spirit’s exit removes a low-cost option for travel to the New York City area.
United is already planning to operate these flights through United Express, which means smaller aircraft and likely higher ticket prices.
For a short period, travelers in these markets benefited from affordable travel to a major city with Spirit. Now, with United taking over, they can only expect more expensive flights.
