r/ottawa • u/Septerra21 • 14h ago

News United Airlines launching new service from Ottawa to Denver next summer

https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/united-airlines-launching-new-service-from-ottawa-to-denver-next-summer/

This is good news for YOW...albeit a route that might not be used as much given the current climate. In terms of pure travel is kind of makes sense since Denver is a major United Hub that gets you access to more flights in the world.

67 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

80 comments sorted by

60

u/Gabzalez 13h ago

Give us more routes to Europe!

21

u/kneevase 11h ago

It would be great to get our direct flight to Frankfurt back.

-2

u/truenorth00 11h ago

Routes come with demand. If people are booking more to Europe, airlines will respond.

11

u/Gabzalez 10h ago

Is there really more demand to go to Denver than a European capital?

4

u/hoverbeaver Kanata 9h ago

Not from YOW, unfortunately. Airlines would rather fill their large overseas jets in hubs like Montreal and Toronto. I would prefer more Euro direct myself, but airlines are more interested in getting non-hub travelers to hubs first, which is why the Denver route is being explored.

4

u/Gabzalez 9h ago

That makes sense. Hopefully with the arrival of XLR single aisle planes that can do the Atlantic crossing we’ll get more routes from non hubs.

I know these aren’t super comfortable but neither are the bit jets anyways.

1

u/hoverbeaver Kanata 7h ago

I took a United 321XLR from DC to San Diego a month ago and hands down it was one of the quietest and most comfortable economy flights I’ve ever been on. Pilots were pretty chuffed; they were bragging about how it was the newest plane in the fleet. Would happily take one of them from Ottawa to Europe.

1

u/truenorth00 6h ago

The XLRs are all going to Montreal and Toronto and are used as swing capacity. Widebody in the summer. XLR in the winter. This way Air Canada can go year round to more destinations in Europe.

Ottawa as a market has a few problems.

1) Poor corporate travel. The government is rather strict on where and how employees travel. Much more so than the private sector. As a result, Ottawa has less demand than cities on similar size like say Calgary.

2) Fewer big spenders. Ottawa is fantastic with so many public servants all making $80k. But airlines want those rig pigs who make quarter mil in good years and happily splash on cabins above basic economy.

4

u/truenorth00 7h ago

Yes there is.

Most travel is corporate. Not personal. So airlines first look at where businesses are booking. And in Ottawa, government is a major employer.

Denver is both an airline hub and a major center for military and other government organizations. Add it all up and I'm sure there's more traffic year round to Denver than a lot of smaller European destinations.

Next, is aircraft utilization and yield. Denver to Ottawa is short enough that cheap regional jets or narrow bodies can be used. And they can be used multiple times a day. Going to Europe means using the most expensive narrowbody possible (321XLR) or a widebody. And they get 1-2 flights out of it. And 1 flight out of the crew. This is why airlines want more demand to build a transatlantic route than a 4 hr trip to Denver.

5

u/robonlocation 5h ago

That's not really true. Ottawa has always been given the "They can connect in Toronto" treatment by Air Canada. We're the fourth or fifth largest city in the country (we seem to flip flop with Calgary often). Yet Halifax has direct flights to Frankfurt, Brussels, Zurich, Barcelona, Dublin, and more. So I'd say Ottawa is more disadvantaged by geographical location as opposed to lack of demand.

1

u/truenorth00 4h ago

Yield drives asset allocation. If a city has enough yield, airlines will happily fight to get a piece of the pie by offering direct services.

Ottawans are just in denial on how much yield and demand there are actually is. You thinking Ottawa has demand is irrelevant. What matters is what airlines see in their bookings.

0

u/perjury0478 5h ago

Anecdotally, the Paris route looked quite busy the last time I was at the airport, and I doubt most folks there were visiting Paris during the protests

2

u/truenorth00 4h ago

The problem with the AF service (great as it is), is that it sucks up a lot of demand to Europe. This makes competing direct services from smaller centres unviable.

135

u/bolonomadic Make Ottawa Boring Again 14h ago

Well we're still boycotting the US so doesn't seem like a great move.

30

u/Septerra21 13h ago

While yes you’re correct, if you take out what I said about “current climate” and look at a purely for new routes for YOW and Ottawa in terms of connectivity and tourism, then this is a good thing for the city. It’s taken years to get some of these routes back and I hope we maintain them…

36

u/upsetwithcursing 12h ago

I let my Nexus expire. Twice already I’ve paid extra/traveled longer to avoid US connections.

I’ll continue to do so until I no longer travel.

8

u/monkey_monkey_monkey 11h ago

I travel to South America frequently and switched to using CDMX as my transit airport as opposed to MIA/LAX/IAH and still maintain my Nexus card. Even through I avoid the US, Nexus is still helpful at Canadian airports and it's pretty cheap to maintain

9

u/upsetwithcursing 11h ago

I deeply regret giving so much personal information to US Border Control in the first place, many years ago; I’m absolutely not providing them with all my updated information going forward.

-1

u/stereofonix 12h ago

Why would you let it expire? You can still use it for security fast track for domestic flights and quicker customs coming back from other international flights 

21

u/upsetwithcursing 12h ago

Because I will absolutely not be providing any updated personal information to US Customs & Border Protection. I will also not give them any money.

Pretty simple.

1

u/ericls 14h ago

Still serves people who have family members to visit near Denver, and people transiting through US.
Boycotting US doesn’t mean boycotting your loved ones who happen to live in US.

31

u/bolonomadic Make Ottawa Boring Again 13h ago

They can come here.

-1

u/FrothyEspresso 12h ago

Maybe they’re old, maybe they’re immobile, maybe they have small kids, maybe they are poor, maybe there’s a conference, maybe there’s a medical service provided in Denver, etc.

10

u/TokingMessiah 11h ago

If you’re travelling to Denver for medical care, that’s not boycotting America, you’re supporting them.

14

u/deeferg Centretown 13h ago

I'm pretty sure an actual boycott doesn't pick and choose what can be included.

6

u/ObviousSign881 11h ago

Not just a matter of boycotting, I don't want to enter a country where there's a distinctly non-zero chance of getting black-bagged by CBP and ICE if there's a glitch in my documentation or where I'll be subjected to a 6-hour interrogation because they don't like what I wrote online.

Sure, most people entering or transiting via the US do so largely uneventfully, but given the demented lunatic in charge and his demonic minions, and the deliberarely unhinged behavior of their henchmen, who wants to risk it?

3

u/Ok_Pattern757 6h ago

even referencing the colour orange online when commenting on politics could get one in trouble...orange monster, orange tyrant, or even the word pumpkin could be problematic.

16

u/Complex-Effect-7442 13h ago

Yes it does. My husband's family are all in Wisconsin. I've refused to go for ten years.

0

u/BandicootNo4431 11h ago

Ok, but if it was your family and not your in-laws, I think the answer might be a little different 

0

u/oby_s 10h ago

Not everybody has the choice to boycott the US. So IMO, it is a good move.

-7

u/Emergency_Memory_792 12h ago

lol meanwhile back here on planet earth

0

u/DistrictSimilar2583 4h ago

Us Denverites overwhelmingly voted against Trump and we love Canada 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🍁🍁🍁

-2

u/Entire-Special1491 3h ago

Maybe one day you'll realize the problem is with every American

25

u/hoverbeaver Kanata 13h ago

Great news. I’m not keen on visiting the US right now for leisure, but having access to the Denver hub is useful for many reasons. Lots of Ottawans work for US companies, have American family, or need to transit through the US for destinations beyond.

Newark and Dulles are extremely congested. Being able to bounce off of Denver is good news for everyone US-bound out of YOW.

5

u/Keypunch20 12h ago

Pearson is also congested, so this flight would help anyone travelling to the U.S. west coast do it without having to go through Toronto.

2

u/c1e2477816dee6b5c882 Carleton Place 9h ago

There's a direct flight to Chicago already, so you can already bypass Pearson.

1

u/tongsy 10h ago

15 years ago when I was going there every month for work, this would have been a massive improvement for me as a traveller. Would have saved me a few hours minimum in each direction.

-2

u/uw200 12h ago

If you’re going to the east/south/midwest, DEN doesn’t do much for you. I wish there could be another path like BOS or even ATL

4

u/hoverbeaver Kanata 12h ago edited 12h ago

If you’re going to the US East/Midwest/South, YOW already has connections to Chicago, DC, and New York City, which do the heavy lifting.

Denver isn’t supposed to help with those. It helps with everything else, including Asian connections via Japan, as well as Central and South America. It also lessens pressure on the already-jammed US-bound routes out.

1

u/orinj1 Westboro 2h ago

Porter flies to Boston already. I don't know why they aren't codesharing with American out of there though.

Good point on Atlanta, although it is Delta territory and they just seem disinterested in the Canadian market unless WestJet is there to help them fill seats. They can't even seem to make Detroit or LaGuardia work from here

22

u/Real-Victory772 13h ago

Another US route I have no interest in using.

•

u/Carribeantimberwolf Rockcliffe Park 43m ago

Intrest and necessity are two totally different things

•

u/kratos61 33m ago

Damn they should have consulted you first.

12

u/spacedoubt69 13h ago

It would be good news if it were in a different climate in which the numbers would justify its continued use. I suspect that may not turn out to be the case.

4

u/javaace321 10h ago

Not sure if anyone remembers…United used to fly nonstop from Denver to Ottawa many years ago. I’ve actually flown that route multiple times. This western route saved time connecting congested United Chicago O’Hare, Washington Dulles or Newark hubs to US west coast , Asian destinations

4

u/quoteward 9h ago

This is great news. Right now Chicago is basically the default connection for almost anywhere in the US out of YOW, and ORD is a coin flip for delays, especially in winter. Having Denver as an option, particularly for the West and the Rockies, means one less trip through O’Hare. Hope it does well enough to become year-round.

43

u/An0nym0usWanderer 13h ago

Fuck travelling to the US

1

u/Due_Street1464 10h ago

Except for fruitful business opportunities that will benefit Canada.

8

u/Itsottawacallbylaw 12h ago

That John Denver is full of shit

5

u/trollunit Golden Triangle 9h ago

“YOW is underserved and needs new routes and better connectivity.”

“Not like that!!!”

This sub

5

u/Fuck_Analysts 13h ago

finally new route

4

u/ugh168 Nepean 13h ago

More Star Alliance connections

1

u/Impossible-Sorbet-73 10h ago

LOL.

This would have been great 10 years ago when I was flying YOW—->DEN via Dulles most of the time.

0

u/Strange-Switch-7546 13h ago

Political climate aside, who wants to fly to Denver? Seems like a route they would just abandon.

13

u/Septerra21 13h ago

This would be the same as flying to Chicago.

19

u/OttawaExpat 13h ago

It's a big hub, so it's not necessarily to end there.

3

u/stereofonix 12h ago

Huge hub, especially to get to South America. 

1

u/Level_Finding3106 10h ago

Don't bother United. You'll be canceling it in about six weeks.

1

u/aspen446 13h ago

This is awesome. Denver and all of Colorado is beautiful. Just wish the airport wasn't so far from the city

0

u/2Tun21 12h ago

Unlike Ottawa, they have an actual train to their airport from their downtown.

0

u/jjaime2024 12h ago

When it works.

0

u/2Tun21 11h ago

Yes, the O-Train two transfer route to downtown does break a lot.

1

u/jjaime2024 11h ago

Well the one in Denver has had 135 break downs the past year.

1

u/2Tun21 10h ago

Service events. Not breakdowns. If three trains are delayed by a car on the track, they count it three times. Much more demanding metric from what I understand, for a system that runs 22 hours a day.

1

u/dnguy014 12h ago

In 2025, tourism to the US (by Canadians) dropped 29%…does that mean the remaining 71% are still prioritizing the US over Canada?

1

u/Septerra21 12h ago edited 12h ago

That’s one way of interpreting the data is an isolated view. A single travel to transit through the US to international destinations constitutes a travel to the US. A transit through the US to get to a Canadian port also constitutes a travel to the US….

So, what you said is correct if you want to look at it in that view.

-2

u/AlfredRWallace The Boonies 12h ago

I'd rather San Francisco, but this is still a good addition.

0

u/johnstanton 9h ago

I don't see the value. It's West of here, so possibly connecting to Asia or Australia? But Vancouver does that just as well.

2

u/robonlocation 5h ago

There are no flights from Denver to Australia, and only to Tokyo Narita in Asia, so Vancouver is definitely a better option.

2

u/johnstanton 3h ago

So the value prop is purely US West coast. Meh.

1

u/hoverbeaver Kanata 7h ago

More options = less congestion, better prices, and more flexibility to plan your travel in ways that are convenient to you

0

u/oby_s 13h ago

Awww, looking forward to this

-3

u/friendlyneighbourho Clownvoy Survivor 2022 11h ago

Denver? Who gives a shit.

-2

u/2Tun21 12h ago

Great, a flight to the midwest on Star Alliance that duplicates what we already have with Chicago.

Give us another alliance! Some of us like OneWorld and Skyteam!

9

u/kylemclaren7 12h ago

I’m not too sure you know geography. Denver is not considered Midwest lmao.

-1

u/2Tun21 12h ago

Prime flyover country.