Here’s another one from the archives, this is N18112, a Boeing 757-200 in Continental colors at Cleveland Hopkins back in 2004. This aircraft was originally delivered to Continental in February 1995, got retrofitted with blended winglets in 2005 and crossed over with the United-Continental merger and still flies for United today. Up until 1985, CLE was United’s easternmost domestic hub- that year, United began shifting its East Coast domestic hub operations from Cleveland to Washington Dulles, a process that was completed by 1987. That was the same year that Continental moved in to fill the gap left by United at CLE. Continental at the time lacked a upper Midwest hub close to the manufacturing centers of Ohio. USAir also moved in as well- but USAir would eventually reduce its flights at CLE, leaving Continental as the dominant carrier there. With the United-Continental merger in 2010, CLE’s days as a hub became numbered. In 2014, the announcement came that CLE was being closed as a United hub and within four months, United reduced its flights at CLE by over 60%. At the end of 2017, the dominant carrier at CLE is now Southwest (17% of passengers), followed by United (15%), Frontier (13%), Spirit (9%), Delta (8%) and the rest by all the other carriers at Cleveland. #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KCLE #CLE #airport #Cleveland #Ohio #planespotting #airlines #Boeing #757 #Continental #instagramaviation #N18112 #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge (at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE))
