United to shrink Guam hub from November

United Airlines will shrink its Guam hub from Nov 2017, as it shifts Boeing 737s back to the US mainland. The redeployment of 3 737s to the mainland from Micronesia will allow the carrier to increase aircraft utilisation, says Howard Attarian, senior VP of flight operations at United. United can fly the aircraft about 8 hours per day on the mainland compared to about 4 hours per day out of Guam, he says. "One of the most important initiatives underway at United is a renewed focus on growing our airline through improved fleet utilisation," says Attarian. United is in the midst of a domestic expansion primarily enabled by increased aircraft utilisation. It expects a 3.5% to 4.5% increase in domestic capacity in 2017, which CE Oscar Munoz says is driven largely by higher utilisation and completion factors. <br/>