United LHR load factors?

Would hate to sit 29hours away from the window!

What’s to see crossing the pond? :diablo:

I suppose I might as well conclude, the return flight (UAL 110) was apparently nearly 100% full. And you know what American’s are like? They take everything but the kitchen sink; the over-head bins were practically overflowing so hand luggage had to be stowed in the hold.

Apparently the crew had meticulously timed the departure so they could be “number one” (said in a strong American accent) into Heathrow from the US. The flight was only about 6 hours long.

Seeing as I work for the company that handles the UA flights to/from EWR @ LHR I suppose I have a unique perspective on this…

Indeed the load factors have been rather low of late, however the OP has failed to omit several key factors…

Firstly Newark (EWR) has recently been affected by two major weather systems (Hurricane Sandy and then the nor’easter snow storm!), which has led to a lot of delayed and cancelled flights, and because of this alot of people who were planning to travel to the US via EWR chose to fly via alternative routes or just cancelled their trips altogether. In order to avoid the scenes seen a few years back, we simply do not allow people to re-book at the airport…instead they are directed to the website or to call Reservations. All customers are offered a date change or a refund if they cancelled.

Secondly, I would point out that whilst the aircraft might not have that many passengers onboard, the BusinessFirst cabin has certainly been full on almost all of the flights on both the outbound and inbound flights.

Lastly, revenue is also generated from the cargo that is transported on the aircraft…I believe that UA have a contract with Royal Mail to transport mail to the USA, which is quite a valuable contract to have in place.

In terms of when the flights are the busiest, I find that first thing Monday morning and the afternoon/evening flights on Thursday, Friday and Sunday are the busiest.;)

I booked with Lufthansa, share-coding my trip through to Buenos Aires, and was able to reserve seats on the United ‘manage my bookings’ bit. I hope it’s legit and that they are actually reserved.. Would hate to sit 29hours away from the window!

I hadn’t realised you could view United seat reservations online, so thanks for that lucas.
There’s a mixed bag, some flights are full – others aren’t. Generally the afternoon and evening departures appear busier.

I’m flying United to Newark on the 757 in a few weeks time and I’ve managed to reserve the last remaining window seat- it seems like the flight is already pretty full. And that’s on the third flight of the day.
I agree, it’s probably pure coincidence.

I don’t think that there would be a big difference in the number of passengers from Newark as opposed to JFK. Just a personal opinion. I would prefer to depart from the most convenient airport.

I’ve never heard a doctor call on any flight I’ve taken, so I think you’re just having a coincidence. That and I suspect if a passenger feels a bit off, flight attendants might call for a doctor just to play it safe.

I do wish I could get on a half-empty plane.
Every flight I’ve had for years seems to be full.
Recently I’ve flown Delta for two trips and a total of six legs. Every one was 90%+ full.
Likewise, my BA flights to the UK and Easyjet hops to Nice.
Someobody is making money…