United’s Commuter Flights From O.C. May Be Reduced

The company operating United Airlines’ commuter service to smaller airports along the West Coast may be cutting flights from Orange County’s John Wayne Airport.

Starting next month, Skywest Airlines will offer eight round trips daily from Orange County to United’s biggest hub, Los Angeles International Airport. But the Utah-based carrier isn’t sure whether Orange County flights to Fresno and Monterey will be continued.

The decision on whether those flights will be retained depends largely on airplane availability, which could be strained by rapid growth, said Steven Hart, the airline’s vice president for market development. A decision could be made by the end of the month, he said.

United retained Skywest last October to handle connecting service from smaller West Coast airports to larger ones under the United Express name. Skywest replaced Mesa Air Group.

Skywest started taking over operations in Southern California, where United Express has 120 daily flights to 10 cities.

The carrier will take over Northern California routes by June and flights in Oregon and Washington by the end of the summer. Skywest will end up operating more than 600 West Coast flights a day from Seattle to Los Angeles, ranking it among the nation’s largest regional airlines.

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Daryl Strickland covers tourism and small and minority business issues for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5670, and at daryl.strickland@latimes.com