As one of the world’s largest carriers, 
United Airlines
has an extensive route network. Stretching from Australia to Europe, the carrier has established itself as an international airline. In the domestic market, United uses a massive narrowbody fleet to connect cities across America through its network of strategically placed hubs.
The hub and spoke model enables United to serve various smaller markets through regional subsidiaries like Republic Airways and Skywest. However, sometimes markets simply do not provide the demand to make a fight profitable. As airlines review their networks, they regularly make adjustments and cuts to account for this. United, being no exception, has just cut its only service to Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport.
United’s Lewiston Service
According to Cirium, an aviation data analytics company, United offers daily flights between its Denver International Airport
hub and Lewiston, Idaho this month. This equates to 62 flights total and 4,340 available seats. The airline uses its Embraer E175 aircraft on the route, and the flight is operated by SkyWest.
Photo: Austin Deppe | Shuitterstock
According to the Lewiston Tribune, United will end flights to Denver on February 1, 2025. The last arrival from the Mile High City will arrive on the evening of January 31, 2025, and the return trip back to Colorado will depart the next morning.
Yahoo News reported that airport officials have claimed in the past that United was not making money on the route and that it required subsidies to avoid bleeding more cash. The airport attempted to provide some of the funding needed to maintain direct Denver services, but beyond offering $500,000 of the $4.9 million subsidy requested, the airport could not find the rest of the funds.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
While the service is ending, airport officials expressed appreciation for United giving the route a chance. In a news release, Airport Director Michael Isaacs stated:
“We thank United Airlines, Nez Perce County and the city of Lewiston for trying this route during challenging economic times in the air transportation industry.”
Though Lewiston will lose its direct service to Denver, the airport still receives commercial service from 
Delta Air Lines
. With the Atlanta-based carrier, passengers can travel with direct service to Salt Lake City and Seattle, and connect through these hubs to destinations across the world.
United’s E175 At a Glance
The Embraer E175 plays a critical role in United’s regional network. According to United, the carrier has two different aircraft configurations, one of which seats 70 passengers and one that seats 76 passengers. Both have three different ticket classes in the cabin: United First, Economy Plus, and Economy.
Photo: United Airlines
The first configuration, which has a more premium-heavy configuration, features 12 United First seats, 32 Economy Plus seats, and 26 Economy seats. Meanwhile, the other cabin setup features 12 United First seats, 16 Economy Plus seats, and 48 Economy seats.
First class seats feature 37” of pitch and 5” of recline, while Economy Plus seats offer 34” of pitch and 3” of recline. Economy seats have the industry average of 31” of pitch, while it has 2” of recline. First class seats are 20” wide, while seats in the remaining cabins are 18”.
Related
United Airlines Takes Delivery Of Its 25th Airbus A321neo
With more aircraft on the way, United aims to surpass 1,000 active aircraft and become the largest airline in the world.
How The Hub and Spoke Network Connects Small Cities
With a population of only 34,836 people, Lewiston is a small city that likely cannot support any direct flights on origin-destination traffic alone. The hub and spoke model enables major airlines to serve smaller, more remote communities like Lewiston by routing all passengers through a central hub.
Photo: Denver International Airport
So, passengers originating in small cities all board the same flight and can travel to hundreds of destinations through a layover at a key hub. All of the United States’ legacy carriers, American, Delta, and United, employ this network model. Alaska also uses this approach, and airlines like JetBlue and Southwest use a combination of hub and spoke and point-to-point routes.
