Pittsburgh techies — as well as those with a love for sourdough bread and cable cars — will soon have double the options for getting to San Francisco.
United Airlines is adding a second nonstop flight to the city by the Bay on Aug. 1. It will leave Pittsburgh at 7:30 p.m. and land in San Francisco at 9:53 p.m. local time, according to the Allegheny County Airport Authority.
It is one of two new flights taking wing at the Findlay airport. Breeze Airways also is continuing its aggressive Pittsburgh expansion with a seasonal flight to Fort Myers, Fla., starting Nov. 15.
With the United addition, Pittsburgh will have two daily flights to San Francisco for the first time since before the pandemic. The carrier added a second daily seasonal flight to San Francisco in 2018, marking the first time since 2008 that Pittsburgh had two daily nonstops to the city. At one time, during its heyday as a hub, the airport had as many as five.
United currently operates one daily flight to San Francisco with a morning departure and a red-eye return.
The city is an important destination for Pittsburgh’s tech community given that firms such as Google, Apple and Meta are headquartered in the Silicon Valley and have local offices in the Steel City.
With the addition of Fort Myers, Breeze, meanwhile, will have 13 nonstop routes from Pittsburgh. The Fort Myers flight will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and run into next spring.
Just last month, the low-cost carrier announced that it would be starting service to Tampa International Airport on Oct. 5 with flights on Thursdays and Saturdays.
“Florida is a big destination for our passengers, and we are confident this route will do well,” airport authority CEO Christina Cassotis said in a statement. “We’re grateful for our strong partnership with Breeze as well as its investment in our community and recognition in the value of our market.”
Southwest Airlines also flies to Fort Myers from Pittsburgh.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com
First Published: July 18, 2023, 4:52 p.m.
Updated: July 19, 2023, 2:14 p.m.
