TRIP REPORT - United (ERJ-145, E175), St Louis to Cincinnati

Thanks to a goofy cost/benefit analysis, I was told to fly to Cincinnati for work this past summer (a 5-6 hour drive from St Louis). Delta is the only carrier that flies this route non-stop, but they charge an arm and a leg for the convenience. As a result, I ended up on a simple one stop United itinerary via ORD. What could possibly go wrong? Well, it's air travel... so a lot :)

The decision to fly blew up in my face and turned into an all-day adventure. Though it made for a unique trip report and gave me plenty of time to do some spotting at O'Hare. Overall, not the worst day for an aviation enthusiast like me.

This was my first time visiting the city of Cincinnati and my first time at CVG. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like CVG has quite bounced back from Delta's many service reductions the way that STL bounced back from losing its hub status with American. At STL, Southwest now has a huge presence, other airlines are growing, and passenger traffic is up year after year. Even though we have a few closed concourses, the airport feels alive again. CVG... not so much. Feels like an absolute ghost town. My theory is 2-fold. Delta still kinda-sorta has a hub at CVG, so their capacity in the market keeps other airlines out. At the same time, there's other cheaper airports in the area (i.e. Dayton) where the low-cost carriers primarily fly. Whereas in St Louis, AA pulled out of every route except for their hub and focus cities leaving things wide open for Southwest. In addition, we're really a one airport town (BLV doesn't count), so there was nowhere else for the low cost guys to go. That's my theory as to why CVG continues to struggle, though I'd love to hear yours.

Hope you enjoy the report! Note - This is my first trip report shot with all 60FPS cameras, but the experimental out-the-window camera I tried didn't live up to my quality standards and was retired after this video. Please pardon any issues with quality, particularly with audio.

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