United Airlines cuts frequencies to Australia from San Francisco, Los Angeles and Houston

United Airlines has reduced capacity and frequencies to Australia from its West Coast hubs in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The reduction, which will include some equipment changes, is expected to begin in late October.

The Chicago-based airline will also reduce flights from its Houston hub. Despite the cuts, United’s Australian network remains large compared to its two other U.S. counterparts.

San Francisco – Sydney

Service between San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) operates once daily, but is typically bolstered by an additional daily flight during the winter season to meet demand. According to independent aviation blog Ishrion Aviation, United will reduce the second daily flight to just four weekly frequencies. Rather than starting in November, the flight will only operate from December 20 to March 5, 2025. The airline currently deploys Boeing 777-300ERs on the route, but will downgrade flights to the 777-200ER.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

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The United Airlines 777-300ER is the airline’s largest aircraft in terms of passenger capacity and is equipped with the largest number of premium seats. The aircraft can accommodate a total of 350 passengers in a three-class format. The premium cabins feature 60 Polaris seats that convert to lie-flat beds and 24 Premium Plus seats, the equivalent of the airline’s premium economy class. Economy class is equipped with 266 seats. 62 seats are Economy Plus seats with extra legroom.

Interested in this route? Find flights from San Francisco to Sydney here!

When the SFO-SYD deployment switches to the 777-200ER, the route will lose 74 seats per flight. The smaller variant seats a total of 276 passengers in three classes. United Polaris has 50 lie-flat seats, while Premium Plus has 24 lie-flat seats. The economy cabin has 202 seats, 46 of which are designated Economy Plus.

Qantas also flies the SFO-SYD route, but its frequencies are half those of United. According to aviation data and analytics firm Cirium, United has a total of 72 flights scheduled on the route in December, or 36 in each direction. Qantas will only operate 28 flights, or 14 in each direction.

Keep the Dreamliner instead of the -300ER

United is the only airline offering nonstop flights between San Francisco International Airport and Melbourne International Airport (MEL). Currently, the route is operated daily by the 787-9 Dreamliner. Last week, the airline had planned to replace the 787-9 with the 777-300ER on October 26, which would add more seats to the route, but those plans have since changed. Instead, the 787-9 will remain on the route.

Photo: United Airlines

The second-largest, but most popular, Dreamliner has a capacity of 257 passengers. The Polaris cabin has 48 lie-flat seats, while the Premium Plus has 21. The remaining 188 seats are in the Economy cabin, 39 of which are Economy Plus seats. United’s decision to keep the 787-9 on this route amounts to a reduction of 93 seats per flight, or 5,580 seats per month, compared to its initial capacity plans.

From Los Angeles and Houston

According to aviation watchdog JonNYC, United will also reduce frequencies between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and MEL starting in November. The airline had scheduled daily flights with the 787-9 last week, but now the frequencies have been reduced to three times a week, which translates to 13 flights each way, or just 26 flights in total for the month. Qantas holds the majority of the market share on this route. The carrier will continue to offer daily flights on either its 787-9 or its Airbus A380.

Additionally, United will reduce its daily 787-9 flights between George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and SYD to three weekly flights in November and December. While the carrier will significantly reduce its capacity to Australia this fall, its network remains the largest of American Airlines and Delta Air Lines combined. According to JonNYC, United offers six routes to Australia, five of which are year-round. American and Delta only have two routes, only one of which is continuously operated year-round.

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