United fortifies Florida service this winter with 20% more seats

United will increase the number of seats on Florida routes by 20% during the winter season (November through March), mostly by increasing flight frequencies and using bigger aircraft.

Among noteworthy changes, United will increase frequency on Chicago O’Hare-Fort Myers, Denver-Fort Lauderdale and Chicago-Miami. The carrier will also fly Cleveland-Fort Lauderdale and Orlando-Fort Myers twice daily (up from daily) and reintroduce daily Cleveland-Tampa service following a year’s hiatus.

United will fly mainline planes to and from Key West this winter for the first time, utilizing Boeing 737-700s instead of regional aircraft on flights from Washington Dulles, Chicago, Houston Bush Intercontinental and Newark.

Between Chicago and Orlando, the airline will fly Boeing 777 widebodies on up to two of its frequencies per day during the winter, more than doubling the seat count on those flights.

United’s upsizing in Florida appears to be part of its growing focus on taking on discount airlines. Florida service is a major emphasis for Spirit, Allegiant, Frontier and Sun Country.

In a press release emphasizing this winter’s schedule, United noted that by using larger planes, customers will have more onboard options than in the past, “whether they’d like to have an elevated experience in United First or a budget-friendly basic economy fare.”

For years, United has done little to promote basic economy, its lowest-end product designed to compete against budget carriers. But the airline’s executives made a shift in messaging during the company’s Q3 earnings call in October, saying that basic economy revenue had increased 50% year over year.

On the call, CEO Scott Kirby said that discount airlines should be worried, boasting that basic economy on United is a superior product at a competitive price.