Summary
- Only 0.78% of US domestic flights are on widebody aircraft.
- Some 17 routes are minimally served—one roundtrip flight or a single one-way service.
- Most occur around October 26, shortly before northern airlines switch to winter schedules and reallocate aircraft.
American Airlines
,
Delta Air Lines
,
Hawaiian Airlines
, and
United Airlines
all have domestic US widebody flights between September and December 2024. Of course, the massive number of narrowbody flights means twin-aisle domestic links are comparatively unusual. Analyzing Cirium schedules shows that just one in every 128 domestic services will be on one.
The minimally served widebody markets
As of September 2, the latest information shows that 100+ domestic US airport pairs will have widebody flights between September and December. Of these, 17 have just one service scheduled, whether one roundtrip or a one-way flight. Other airport pairs only have two or three services, but they are not considered here.
Over half of the 17 links have one-way flights, which generally exist on/around October 26, the day before northern airlines switch to winter schedules based on IATA slot seasons. Aircraft are repositioned between hubs and allocated to passenger flights to earn revenue to offset the costs.
Photo: Lukas Wunderlich | Shutterstock
They are listed below in date order. None of the airports are among the busiest airports globally for widebodies.
- September 6: Denver-Newark; United 777-200 (non-ER); 08:25 departure out, 15:41 departure back
- September 10: Detroit-Salt Lake City; Delta 767-300ER; 07:25 departure out, 11:00 departure back
- September 14: Salt Lake City-Atlanta; Delta 767-300ER; 12:40 departure out; one-way only
- September 30: Minneapolis-New York JFK; Delta 767-300ER; 15:15 departure out; one-way only
- October 14: Atlanta-Fort Lauderdale; Delta 767-300ER; 12:40 departure out, 15:45 departure back
- October 18: Atlanta-Cincinnati; Delta 767-300ER; 11:10 departure out, 13:48 departure back
- October 19: Atlanta-Miami; Delta 767-300ER; 11:15 departure out, 14:29 departure back
- October 25: Seattle-Atlanta; Delta A330neo; 21:30 departure out; one-way only
- October 26: Boston-Los Angeles; Delta 767-300ER; 17:30 departure out; one-way only
- October 26: Chicago O’Hare-Philadelphia; American 787-8; 16:15 departure out; one-way only
- October 26: Cincinnati-Los Angeles; Delta 767-400ER; 17:15 departure out; one-way only
- October 26: Los Angeles-Minneapolis; Delta A330neo; 14:30 departure out; one-way only
- October 26: Newark-Chicago O’Hare; United 777-200 (non-ER); 18:45 departure out; one-way only
- October 26: New York JFK-Charlotte; American 777-200ER; 15:29 departure out, 17:29 departure back (different aircraft)
- October 26: Phoenix-Miami: American 777-200ER; 22:59 departure out; one-way only
- October 27: Chicago O’Hare-Washington Dulles; American 787-8; 09:00 departure out; one-way only
- November 28: Denver-Los Angeles; United 777-200 (non-ER); 09:51 departure out, 12:55 departure back
Boston to Los Angeles
Even though the 17 airport pairs have almost no twin-aisle services, many previously had regular or semiregular operations. Consider Boston to Los Angeles. Until 2012, American had a daily 767-300ER service (the oneworld carrier withdrew the type from its fleet during the pandemic).
Photo: Simple Flying | Vincenzo Pace
Between 2013 and 2024, Boston-Los Angeles had only four flights (in that direction): November 18, 2022 (American 777-200ER); December 22, 2022 (American 777-200ER); January 8, 2024 (Delta 767-300ER); and March 24, 2024 (Delta 767-300ER).