United is upgrading its service to a California airport that sees less than 400,000 passengers annually. Eastern Sierra Regional Airport is located near the towns of Bishop and Mammoth, which are popular tourist destinations.
Together with regional operator SkyWest, United began serving the eastern California airport in December 2021 with seasonal flights to Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The carrier replaced its operations at Mammoth Yosemite Airport and remains the only airline in the market.
Before the airline began serving the market, Eastern Sierra Regional Airport hadn’t seen scheduled passenger service for decades. The airport is owned by the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power but leased to Inyo County.
Starting on Dec. 12, United will resume seasonal flights to the airport with larger Embraer E175 aircraft. Previously, the airline was using CRJ-700s.
Both Denver and San Francisco will be served with the jet, increasing premium capacity by six seats per flight. The carrier also plans to extend its Denver service with twice-weekly flights through the end of April.
New Embraer E175 Destination
In a Thursday news release, United also confirmed that it intends to begin flying Embraer E175s to Aspen, replacing the CRJ-700s. SkyWest will continue to operate these flights on behalf of the carrier.
Two very busy days in Aspen – testing and training as we prepare for E175 service! Fantastic partnership between our United, SkyWest and Airport colleagues!
The Winter Sports season is coming soon! ⛷️ ? ? ⛄️ ❄️
@jacquikey @Jmass29Massey pic.twitter.com/8ziQOmVyPH
— Dan McMahan (@ORDflier) October 18, 2024
The E175 will be among the largest aircraft to regularly serve Aspen and the two airlines recently conducted test flights at the airport. Located at nearly 8,000 feet in elevation, Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is surrounded by mountainous terrain.
United notes that E175 service to Aspen is still subject to government approval.
