Airlines try to be strategic about which specific aircraft variants they base at which airports. Airlines obviously want to match capacity to demand as much as possible. However, there’s also something to be said for fleet simplicity, in terms of not having too many aircraft variants based at a particular hub (in terms of aircraft scheduling, crewing, etc.).
Along those lines, United has just revealed that its largest jet will be returning to its largest transatlantic gateway.
In this post:
United will fly 777-300ERs out of Newark as of March 2025
As reported by @IshrionA, United will once again begin flying its Boeing 777-300ERs out of Newark (EWR) as of the spring of 2025. Specifically, the plane will be deployed on the following three routes:
- As of March 29, 2025, United will fly 777-300ERs between Newark and Dubai (DXB)
- As of March 29, 2025, United will fly 777-300ERs between Newark and Frankfurt (FRA)
- As of May 22, 2025, United will fly 777-300ERs between Newark and Rome (FCO)
This isn’t the first time that United is flying 777-300ERs out of Newark, but it is the first time in several years. Currently the airline exclusively flies its 777-300ERs out of San Francisco (SFO) and Washington (IAD), with the bulk of the fleet being used for transpacific flights from California.
What’s interesting is that as of now, United hasn’t actually downgraded any existing 777-300ER routes, so the airline has more of these jets scheduled than actually available. So presumably some downgrades will be imminent, where we’ll see some other 777-300ER routes downgraded to either the 777-200ER, or some variant of the 787.
What are these implications of these “upgrades?”
From a passenger experience standpoint, there’s not really a huge benefit to flying United’s largest jet. If anything, many people may prefer the 787 to the 777, given how much quieter the aircraft is, plus its better pressurization.
However, the 777-300ER is United’s highest capacity jet, with 60 Polaris business class seats, so that’s great for premium cabin capacity, including upgrades and awards. When it comes to these three route additions:
- It’s not surprising to see the jet fly to Rome, given just how popular Italy is with tourists in summer
- Frankfurt makes sense given the transatlantic joint venture with Lufthansa Group, so there’s a ton of connectivity from the Frankfurt hub
- The Dubai addition is a bit surprising, especially for the summer season (you’d think the route would be upgraded in winter), and it suggests to me that there’s strong demand for the Emirates partnership, with onward connections
Bottom line
United intends to once again base some Boeing 777-300ERs out of Newark, as of the spring of 2025. The airline will fly these jets to Dubai, Frankfurt, and Rome, complementing routes out of San Francisco and Washington. It’s not surprising to see these planes return to Newark, given the strong transatlantic demand from there.
What do you make of United bringing 777-300ERs back to Newark?
Flew the UA 777-300ER from SFO to IAD last weekend. Flight came from HNL and was returning to SFO after arrival is SFO. Flight was completely packed. As a 1K I was 38 out of 114 on the upgrade list. NO ONE cleared the upgrade list. Mob scene at gate - as over 50 preboards including families, military, wheelchairs, and of course GS and 1K. Group 1 line had likely 50 people as well. At...
Flew the UA 777-300ER from SFO to IAD last weekend. Flight came from HNL and was returning to SFO after arrival is SFO. Flight was completely packed. As a 1K I was 38 out of 114 on the upgrade list. NO ONE cleared the upgrade list. Mob scene at gate - as over 50 preboards including families, military, wheelchairs, and of course GS and 1K. Group 1 line had likely 50 people as well. At least top elites could get a Premium Plus seat in the IAD market (UA charges for it to EWR). So don't be thinking upgrades.
On my outbound IAD-SFO on a 787-800 - I was 13 out of 54 on the upgrade list - no one upgraded. When Global Services was called for preboard - most of them were in Economy (but in PP since not sold)
Sounds good to me! Love flying these.
My hesitation is that the boarding areas in EWR aren't always big enough to handle these. It can get uncomfortably crowded when you're waiting to board, at least when they had these in EWR a few years ago.
A clear sign that TPAC remains muted. These are premium heavy planes too and so it makes sense to put them on routes were demand is seasonally high (FCO) or where connections are a focal point of the route (FRA, DXB).
UA has flown the 77W on EWR-FCO in 2022 and has used the jet on EWR-FRA as well, previously.
spot on! esp. since UA said their growth rate would slow in the Pacific. UA counted on rapid expansion of its international network post covid by holding onto older aircraft while AA and DL retired some aircraft.
UA had a low rate of growth on the Atlantic this year and is now faced w/ the same scenario in 2025 over the Pacific.
The huge revenue gains that UA made are drying up and UA...
spot on! esp. since UA said their growth rate would slow in the Pacific. UA counted on rapid expansion of its international network post covid by holding onto older aircraft while AA and DL retired some aircraft.
UA had a low rate of growth on the Atlantic this year and is now faced w/ the same scenario in 2025 over the Pacific.
The huge revenue gains that UA made are drying up and UA still has to settle w/ its FAs which means its costs will be going up considerably. They cannot afford to add a bunch of capacity that will become more and more expensive to operate in a few months.
Add on that the 777-300ER is the most expensive aircraft in the US passenger fleet to operate and UA is in the position of trying to use it where they can get the best return for the summer - but the winter looks less appealing financially given that UA has a larger difference in summer and winter profitability than other US airlines.
2025 Jubilee Year in Rome so no surprise there