And that’s upgrades in both providing more seats a day on its Charlotte-Houston service and also improving the quality of service. A second of Continental’s eight daily flights to Houston is now on mainline — 114-seat 737-500s — equipment instead of a 50-seat regional jet. This is the first major change for CO here in Charlotte since mainline service returned in the spring of 2009.

US Airways, by comparison, flies CLT-IAH six times a day, all on 144-seat 737-400s.