United Airlines is adding a new nonstop route connecting Connecticut to the West Coast, with daily, year-round flights between Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks and San Francisco International Airport set to begin March 28, 2027. The flights will depart Bradley every evening at 6:30 p.m., giving Nutmeg State travelers a direct link to Northern California without a connection.
A New West Coast Gateway for Bradley
The route will give Connecticut travelers direct access to the San Francisco Bay Area, which United describes as a major center for technology, business and tourism, according to Hartford Business Journal. Beyond the Bay Area itself, the new service will connect passengers through United's San Francisco hub to destinations across the western United States, Asia and Oceania, including Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific points, the outlet reports. The addition also expands United's footprint at Bradley to five of the airline's eight U.S. hubs.
Bradley International Airport is located in Connecticut, while San Francisco International Airport sits in the city of San Francisco, California. Michael W. Shea, executive director and CEO of the Connecticut Airport Authority, said United is strengthening its presence at Bradley with year-round nonstop service to San Francisco. Shea added that the flight connects the community to an important business and leisure destination and expands access to the West Coast and destinations worldwide.
United Frames the Route as Strategic Growth
Mark Weithofer, managing director of domestic network planning at United, said the airline is adding new daily service from Hartford to San Francisco, offering Connecticut travelers expanded West Coast service. Weithofer said the service strengthens United's commitment to the region and offers travelers more choices and global connections through San Francisco. Per Simple Flying, United is expanding its domestic network out of San Francisco International, which the airline considers its largest U.S. West Coast base, and the Hartford route is one of four new routes United is adding for spring 2027, which include three departures from San Francisco and one from Chicago to Bermuda.
The new flight will also run on United's mainline narrowbody aircraft rather than its regional United Express operation, the same report notes. That detail sets it apart from some of the airline's smaller regional additions and signals a more substantial commitment to the route.
Building on Bradley's Recent Route Additions
The San Francisco service follows United's introduction of nonstop flights between Bradley and Houston earlier in 2026. The airline already operates nonstop routes from Bradley to Chicago, Denver and Washington, D.C., through Dulles International Airport, rounding out a growing lineup of United hub connections from the Windsor Locks airport. The new route adds another West Coast destination to Bradley's expanding network of nonstop flights, the Hartford Business Journal report notes.
Bradley is also served by Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Breeze Airways, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines, according to CTNewsJunkie. As of August, the airport offered nonstop flights to 43 destinations, a count that had dipped from 46 a year earlier following Avelo Airlines' departure but still stood 40% higher than in 2013, as reported by courant.com. The Connecticut Airport Authority has also identified London as a top priority for a future nonstop route, with that proposed service projected to generate more than $72 million in economic output in its first year and more than $389 million over five years.
Passenger Numbers Underscore Bradley's Growth
Bradley International Airport served nearly 6.7 million passengers in 2025, while United alone carried nearly 725,000 passengers through the airport that year. Those figures, detailed in the Hartford Business Journal's report, point to steady demand at the airport as United and other carriers continue adding routes. The new San Francisco nonstop is United's latest move to deepen its reach from Bradley, following its earlier 2026 launch of Houston service and years of incremental additions to the airport's hub connections.
