Coach flights for American Airlines and United Airlines

In Europe, we already had Lufthansa which offers a road service with a flight number on Strasbourg-Frankfurt. Now it's the turn of American companies. Or rather, they are reconsidering this option. In the 80s and 90s, America West already offered bus services between Phoenix and Scottsdale in Arizona. The experiment failed.

Low-cost operator Frontier already offers a number of coach services to replace regional airlines. But last year it was United Airlines which was won over by the bus solution. The decision was justified by the shortage of airline pilots as a result of the pandemic. These are being replaced by coach drivers.

Since then, the carrier has launched Denver, one of its main hubs, two road routes to Larimer Countyknown for its ski resorts. In total, United offers five daily Landline coach rotations - four to Loveland airport and one to Breckenridge.

Unlike a traditional transfer from a plane to a bus, total coordination between the two modes of transport. Passengers simply have to sit down in the bus waiting for them outside the arrivals hall. United transfers customers' luggage directly from their aircraft to the Landline bus.

After United, American Airlines takes to the road

Now it's American Airlines' turn to launch coach routes. Once again Landline as a partner of US carrier from Philadelphia.

From 3 June, dbuses painted in American colours will shuttle passengers connecting with American flights to Allentown (Pennsylvania) or Atlantic City (New Jersey).. Tickets will be sold exclusively by the airline as "flights". Here too, thehe company will transfer baggage directly between buses and planes, as for any connecting flight..

American's new agreement goes even further. Subject to authorisation, travellers returning from the two cities of Allentown and Atlantic City will pass through security checks on departure with the bus parked airside in front of a boarding gate at Philadelphia airport.

The expansion of the Landline bus network would make it possible to replace dozens of routes operated by American's regional subsidiaries. These lines are no longer finding drivers, or are suffering from soaring oil prices.

Coaches offer a number of advantages, including significant fuel savings compared to aircraft and a reduction in carbon emissions. "If you're flying within 200 miles of a hub, a multimodal connection is really efficient," said David Sunde, CEO and co-founder of Landline, at a press conference. He added that buses can "reduce the carbon emissions of a regional flight from 80 to 90 % today". Other transfers to the road are likely to follow in the coming months.

Coaches remain the simplest form of complementary transport to American airports.. Because unlike Europe, US airlines can hardly count on the efficiency of a rail transport local...