I used to like the way United connected in LAX to the US Eastern States.

I used to like the way United connected in LAX to the US Eastern States. Just found out they now no

longer have their non stop LAX to CLE connecting from the MEL flight. Does anyone have experience on any other airline that flies that route direct?

Not sure where you heard this. The UA flight is still active. Below is a dumby booking from there website.

The early morning flight does not run every day and only at certain times of the year

If you look at flights at the end of May there's no connection till the evening

I think you will find that a day in LA is needed if you want to connect through LAX

All of the flights from MEL to LAX depart between 9-11am and arrive into LAX between 6-9am the same day. On the other hand, all of the flights from LAX to CLE depart between 10-11pm at night requiring an entire day stopover in LA.

You could try options like MEL-SYD-DFW-CLE (with only a 2hr stop in Sydney and a 7 hour stop in Dallas and an even shorter 2hr transit at both airports on the way back.

If you're more flexible with days then the Jetstar flights from Melbourne to Honolulu then on to Cleveland via SFO might be a good option with a 5 hr stop at HNL and a 2 hr stop at SFO. This option arrives into Cleveland early in the morning (6am) and departs Melbourne at 4pm

Worst case scenario, you can look at the extra stop in either ORD and IAH.

If it's three hops, also consider MEL-AKL-IAH-CLE with the long leg on Air NZ.

Not sure of the flight timings, but the good news is it minimises the time spent on US domestic carriers...