George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)

[KinkaidAlum]

We've gotten Spokane. Ontario used to be served multiple times a day with 737s and then vanished. United brought it back with a once daily flight on a regional jet. 

 

Personally, I miss seeing the 757-300s at IAH that used to serve LAX, DEN, SFO, EWR, SAN, MCO, etc... but now are exclusively at other hubs. 

[astros148]

9 hours ago, asubrt said:

 

Hate to be that guy, but... source?? This seems extremely hard to believe given United's complete disregard for IAH in the past few years. Every other hub has gotten multiple new international routes and domestic routes, while we've gotten... Spokane and Ontario?? Don't get me wrong, I would be ecstatic if this happened and hopefully you have some awesome insider info, but I'll believe it when I see it.

I work at United in the operation department at IAH.  We've hired over 200 employees over the past 2 years and are still hiring. We've hired more in the past 1 year then we did between 2007-2017. I'll know by May additional routes if others are interested. 

 

If you want me to post photos of the new bagroom under construction or whatever else to prove myself just let me know and I'll snap some pics.

Edited January 15, 2020 by astros148

[astros148]

9 hours ago, wilcal said:

 

Do you mean 150 flights/week or per day? 150/day would be an insane increase. 150/week is still an increase, but not a ton.

 

 

I think part of it is additional planes coming online. Looking at summer now for MAX to come back. 

 

These new CRJ's with lots of biz are for EWR and ORD. 

 

I think there's a 0% chance UA launches Mumbai, but Air India certainly might.

 

There's a much better chance of Lagos coming back. 

Ill bet you anything the Mumbai route will be confirmed. 

 

Also IAH-MDE is another route that is being discussed. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by astros148

[asubrt]

9 hours ago, astros148 said:

I work at United in the operation department at IAH.  We've hired over 200 employees over the past 2 years and are still hiring. We've hired more in the past 1 year then we did between 2007-2017. I'll know by May additional routes if others are interested. 

 

If you want me to post photos of the new bagroom under construction or whatever else to prove myself just let me know and I'll snap some pics.

Well that’s definitely encouraging, sorry to be a hater I’ve just been disappointed many times in the past few years. I was more skeptical about the Mumbai/Lagos routes, I don’t doubt the bag room is happening. Keep us posted with any info that you can share!

[wilcal]

11 hours ago, astros148 said:

Ill bet you anything the Mumbai route will be confirmed. 

 

Also IAH-MDE is another route that is being discussed. 

 

I'm not that confident against your confidence, but again, I would be gobsmacked if it was UA that launches BOM. 

 

MDE is a no-brainer. Definitely can see that being launched when MAX planes come back. 

[astros148]

6 hours ago, asubrt said:

Well that’s definitely encouraging, sorry to be a hater I’ve just been disappointed many times in the past few years. I was more skeptical about the Mumbai/Lagos routes, I don’t doubt the bag room is happening. Keep us posted with any info that you can share!

Its not just any bag but its the most expensive bag room in the USA. During the holiday season we had major issues with luggage and we were even storing luggage in the training classrooms because we literally had no where to store them. After the new bag room is built we'll be able to handle more then 75k bags a day. I'll post photos of the construction of the room. We'll have the third most sophisticated bagroom only behind DXB and ICN. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by astros148

[astros148]

On 1/14/2020 at 1:00 PM, wilcal said:

 

Do you mean 150 flights/week or per day? 150/day would be an insane increase. 150/week is still an increase, but not a ton.

 

At the moment we service 492 a day and we plan on increasing it to 700-800 A DAY after 2022. I dont think you guys know just how much growth United is planning for IAH.

Edited January 15, 2020 by astros148

[Houston19514]

39 minutes ago, astros148 said:

At the moment we service 492 a day and we plan on increasing it to 700-800 A DAY after 2022. I dont think you guys know just how much growth United is planning for IAH.

 

l've been hearing whisperings about this growth to 700+ flights a day recently in other forums.  Hope it comes true.  FWIW, that is a LOT of growth, especially considering they apparently plan to grow the Denver hub from about 550 flights per day this summer to more than 700 per day by 2025.  https://thepointsguy.com/news/denver-could-be-united-airlines-largest-hub-by-2025/

[astros148]

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

 

l've been hearing whisperings about this growth to 700+ flights a day recently in other forums.  Hope it comes true.  FWIW, that is a LOT of growth, especially considering they apparently plan to grow the Denver hub from about 550 flights per day this summer to more than 700 per day by 2025.  https://thepointsguy.com/news/denver-could-be-united-airlines-largest-hub-by-2025/

I've spoken to Rodney Cox whos in charge of operations for the entire airport. Im not sure why that rumor is spreading because United plans on making Houston the largest hub by 2023. In regards to Denver they plan on expanding to 650 by 2025 but Houston will be the king of of all hubs. Denver will take over alot of the regional routes and replace them with 737's, but Houston will get the most destinations added. IAH to Dublin, Iah to Aukland are all but guaranteed as well. United wouldn't be investing 1/3 of a billion dollars into a single airport if didnt see it as the king. Houston will be the only United airport that will have EBS (Early bag system). I'll post photos of the construction when I have time but its going to be one of a kind. 

Edited January 15, 2020 by astros148

[KinkaidAlum]

Auckland? UA already has a JV with the Air New Zealand flight. I cannot imagine there'd be room for double daily flights to Kiwi and connections to Oz.

[wxman]

4 hours ago, KinkaidAlum said:

Auckland? UA already has a JV with the Air New Zealand flight. I cannot imagine there'd be room for double daily flights to Kiwi and connections to Oz.

 

Agreed. I've also heard that the Houston-Sydney route is struggling as well. I don't know that there's that kind of demand to go down under? Anybody know?

[wilcal]

6 hours ago, wxman said:

 

Agreed. I've also heard that the Houston-Sydney route is struggling as well. I don't know that there's that kind of demand to go down under? Anybody know?

 

Well, lets put it this way, UA announced in Nov that IAH-SYD would be daily in 2020 and then and it'll be a combo of 4X and 6X per week over the course of May-Aug 2020.

[Houston19514]

1 hour ago, wilcal said:

 

Well, lets put it this way, UA announced in Nov that IAH-SYD would be daily in 2020 and then and it'll be a combo of 4X and 6X per week over the course of May-Aug 2020.

 

I think it has always had reduced service during Australia's winter months.

[AVENSAB727]

On 1/14/2020 at 10:42 PM, astros148 said:

Ill bet you anything the Mumbai route will be confirmed. 

 

Also IAH-MDE is another route that is being discussed. 

Any ideas on when this supposed Mumbai route will be announced?

[wxman]

I'm doing a 5 Asian city tour in March and I need some inside info:

 

I'll be flying IAH to NRT on United (14.5 hours)

NRT - BKK on Thai Airlines (8 hrs)

BKK - SIN on Thai Air Aisa (2.5 hrs)

SIN - KUL on Thai Air Asia (1 hour)

KUL - PEK on Air China (6.5 hours)

PEK - IAH on Air China (13.5 hours)

 

How is the flight from IAH to NRT? Is the food decent? Is it a comfortable flight?

How is Air China? I'm trying to determine if I should pack a bag with food. I'm a picky eater and would hate to think I'll be going without anything to eat on the flight from KUL to PEK to IAH.

Anybody flown Thai Air Asia or Thai Airlines? How are they? Anything I should know about any of the aforementioned airlines?

 

Thanks!

[asubrt]

45 minutes ago, wxman said:

How is the flight from IAH to NRT? Is the food decent? Is it a comfortable flight?

How is Air China? I'm trying to determine if I should pack a bag with food. I'm a picky eater and would hate to think I'll be going without anything to eat on the flight from KUL to PEK to IAH.

Anybody flown Thai Air Asia or Thai Airlines? How are they? Anything I should know about any of the aforementioned airlines?

 

Thanks!

 

Was in Asia recently, but I flew EVA Air on the way there and back. However, I did take Thai Airways from TPE - BKK and BKK - HKT. It is a pretty nice airline, though we were in business class on both segments (first time in my life!). Not as nice as EVA, or probably ANA/Singapore/etc. I would imagine it's better than Air China or Thai Air Asia. The food wasn't bad, though they were both early morning flights so it was breakfast, which is typically less adventurous I'd imagine. If you are a picky eater I would definitely pack some food (or at least some snacks), especially on Air China, as some of the other Asian airlines we flew had food that wasn't exactly friendly for particular palates. Have a great trip, Singapore is especially amazing!

[rechlin]

2 hours ago, wxman said:

I'm doing a 5 Asian city tour in March and I need some inside info:

 

I'll be flying IAH to NRT on United (14.5 hours)

NRT - BKK on Thai Airlines (8 hrs)

BKK - SIN on Thai Air Aisa (2.5 hrs)

SIN - KUL on Thai Air Asia (1 hour)

KUL - PEK on Air China (6.5 hours)

PEK - IAH on Air China (13.5 hours)

 

How is the flight from IAH to NRT? Is the food decent? Is it a comfortable flight?

How is Air China? I'm trying to determine if I should pack a bag with food. I'm a picky eater and would hate to think I'll be going without anything to eat on the flight from KUL to PEK to IAH.

Anybody flown Thai Air Asia or Thai Airlines? How are they? Anything I should know about any of the aforementioned airlines?

 

Thanks!

 

I did the IAH-PEK trip last year, and it was definitely a disappointment.  The IFE system was worse than what Turkish was using way back in 2013, and the food was mediocre at best (no better than United, and that says a lot).  I wish we had a different nonstop option to China.  The only good thing is Air China still does 9 across in coach on a 777 instead of 10 across like some of the penny-pinching carriers.  The only other time I flew to PEK was on a 747 via Northwest so that's too long ago to be comparable.  Hopefully we'll see a nonstop route to Shanghai in the future as an alternative, as I would take that next time I go to China.

[KinkaidAlum]

I know you're using NRT but I'd switch and take ANA via HND. A huge difference in service between United and All Nippon! I've flown Air China but it was a long time ago. Their reputation isn't the best. I'd pack food for sure. Thai is a solid carrier. Not as good as the premiere Asian carriers but much better than United and Air China. Never flown Thai Air Asia but those are short duration so doesn't really matter.

[asubrt]

On 1/15/2020 at 1:39 PM, astros148 said:

Its not just any bag but its the most expensive bag room in the USA. During the holiday season we had major issues with luggage and we were even storing luggage in the training classrooms because we literally had no where to store them. After the new bag room is built we'll be able to handle more then 75k bags a day. I'll post photos of the construction of the room. We'll have the third most sophisticated bagroom only behind DXB and ICN. 

 

Any idea when this is supposed to be complete? United is cutting yet another destination from IAH (West Palm Beach), which may be partially due to the MAX/lack of aircraft, but people are saying that United are holding off on adding any meaningful service until the bag room is finished.

 

[AVENSAB727]

1 hour ago, asubrt said:

 

Any idea when this is supposed to be complete? United is cutting yet another destination from IAH (West Palm Beach), which may be partially due to the MAX/lack of aircraft, but people are saying that United are holding off on adding any meaningful service until the bag room is finished.

 

3rd Quarter of 2022 is when it is supposed to be finished. Per the chronicle.

[Geographer]

Has anyone heard news of an IAH to SGN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) route?

Edited February 12, 2020 by Geographer

[AVENSAB727]

10 hours ago, Geographer said:

Has anyone heard news of an IAH to SGN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) route?

No why?

 

[asubrt]

19 hours ago, Geographer said:

Has anyone heard news of an IAH to SGN (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) route?

It’s one of the unserved destinations with the highest PDEW from Houston, but I think it would be the second longest flight in the world and with very little premium demand = it will almost definitely never happen. Certainly not before LAX.

[The Voice of University Oaks]

And if it ever happened it would be operated by VN or QH, rather than UA.

[Houston19514]

Demolition of the old Terminal C North concourse structure is well underway.

 

You can see it in this YouTube video.

 

 

[wxman]

I'm sure it'll look so good when it's done. I wish they'd do something with the Marriott. That thing looks old and decrepit. The 'futuristic' space ship/space port look is tired. Has anybody ever been in there? Is it nice?

[HoustonBoy]

That Marriott still has a good design imo, but I would love to see it re-clad in glass with some sleek led lights. Is terminal D's upgrade/new construction a done deal? As in is the whole entire project approved and moving forward (terminal C and D margining into one)? Also, is it likely that we'll be losing some international destinations? I was excited with our strong economy and United's investment into a new baggage handling terminal that'd we'd be seeing some historic growth. Now I don't know. 

[wxman]

I heard today that Norwegian is done and will only exist in the history books along with a smaller Australian carrier. I would imagine IAH is trying as hard as it can to keep what it has, much less add any new flags.

[Montrose1100]

On 10/30/2019 at 11:54 AM, Houston19514 said:

Cool Video of international terminal plans

The windows look great. Reminds me vaguely of Mexico City. Would make sense to have smaller, less amount of windows near the ceiling to block to sun, given our climate.

[wxman]

Anybody have any updates on the terminal? Have they completed the Terminal C north demo? I know it seems dramatic but I wonder if IAH will ever return to the air traffic we once had. If so, it'll be years I bet. Are we in danger of losing any foreign flags over this pandemic?