Flights to these cities likely to be nixed as bailed-out airlines seek service cuts
For travelers, getting to some cities is going to get tougher.
Airlines taking federal bailout money are asking for exemptions from minimum service levels they are required to provide as a condition of their government-provided loans and grants.
Of course, airlines are known for adding or reducing levels of service and the cities to which they fly all the time. But now, because of the bailout – the federal stimulus package due to the coronavirus pandemic – the government is involved in the decision-making.
The applications for exemptionsso far come from a variety of carriers, from majors like American and Delta to a bevy of no-frills discounters, like Frontier, Sun Country and Allegiant. It will be up to the Department of Transportation to decide which exemptions to grant.
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The airlines in question want service exemptions because planes are flying with so few passengers amid the crisis.
Under its revised order, the Department of Transportation is currently stipulating that airlines receiving federal assistance that had offered a flight or more a day at least five days a week to a destination be required to now provide at least one flight a day, five days per week. For service to airports that had been less than five days a week, the carrier would need only fly there one day a week.
Airlines, however, say even that amount of reduced flying will still result in such steep losses that it runs against their goal of trying to preserve cash until the economy rebounds.
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The list of destinations that airlines want to drop runs the gamut from big cities to small, though it’s the small ones, especially in remote communities, that could see the biggest impact.
Among the cities that Sun Country, the Minneapolis-based discounter, wants to officially boot are three it stopped flying to last year – Gulfport, Mississippi, Santa Barbara, California and Sonoma County, California.
Based on the pandemic and actions taken to limit the spread of coronavirus, “coupled with the resulting economic crisis, Sun Country’s flights to the destinations covered by this exemption request have forecast extremely low load factors for the coming months, with most in the single digits or low teens,” the airline said in the filing Tuesday.
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In the city of Sonoma, Mayor Logan Harvey told USA TODAY the loss of any airline is painful, given how the local economy in the heart of California’s wine country is dependent on tourism during normal times. He said he’s also worried that other airlines might also be compelled to cut service when they see Sun Country’s move.
“When one pulls out, the others see that decision,” Harvey said. “It’s not unconcerning.”
But given the current pandemic, another mayor in Hawaii welcomes the service cutback as helping in the effort to quell the spread of the coronavirus.
Michael Victorino, mayor of Maui County, Hawaii, wrote the Department of Transportation in support of Hawaiian Airlines’ request to suspend service to Kapalua Airport near Lahaina, a secondary airport serving Maui and two neighboring islands.
“My primary goal is protecting the health and safety of the citizens of the three islands,” Victorino wrote. “That means limiting the number of visitors to Hawaii until the health threat has passed and the restrictions placed on Hawaiian Airlines have been lifted.”
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Among the cities where airlines are asking for exemptions to reduce or eliminate service, at least temporarily:
American
American is asking for latitude in providing seasonal service to Anchorage, Alaska; Kalispell, Montana; Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. It wants to stop service to ski destinations, Vail, Aspen and Montrose, Colorado; and Kahului, Kona, and Lihue, Hawaii.
Delta
Delta asks for flexibility in the dates of its seasonal service to Cody, Wyoming; Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan, Alaska; Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts; West Yellowstone, Montana; and Charlotte Amalie and Christiansted, Virgin Islands.
JetBlue
JetBlue asks to temporarily stop flying to Baltimore, Maryland; San Jose, Burbank and Ontario, California; Providence, Rhode Island; and LaGuardia, Stewart and Westchester County airports in New York.
Alaska
Alaska wants an exemption for Kona, Lihue and Kahului, Hawaii; and Sun Valley, Idaho.
Allegiant
Allegiant has a long list of cities that it says it can no longer afford to serve regularly, including Clarksburg, West Virginia; Dayton, Ohio; Grand Forks, North Dakota; Little Rock, Arkansas; Moline and Springfield, Illinois; Montrose, Colorado; Ogdensburg, New York; Owensboro, Kentucky; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Rochester, New York; St. Cloud, Minnesota; San Antonio, Texas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Tucson, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Bellingham, Washington; El Paso, Texas and Palm Springs, California.
Frontier
Frontier submitted one of the longest lists of cities it wants to temporarily stop serving. Cities include Albany, Syracuse and Buffalo, New York; Billings and Bozeman, Montana; Bloomington, Illinois; Burlington, Vermont; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Detroit; El Paso, Tyler and Harlingen, Texas; Fargo, N.D.; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Spokane, Washington; Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina; Huntsville, Alabama; Wichita, Kansas; Jacksonville and West Palm Beach, Florida; Norfolk, Virginia; Pittsburgh; Palm Springs, California; Portland, Maine; Louisville, Kentucky; and Knoxville, Tennessee.
Sun Country
Sun Country is asking to suspend service from April 20 to June 15 to cities including Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego, California; Chicago; Newark, New Jersey; Denver; Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Boston; San Antonio; Seattle; Honolulu; Philadelphia; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Washington, D.C.; St. Louis: Madison, Wisconsin and Anchorage, Alaska.
Spirit
Spirit, another discounter, said in their filing that “continued service to the following cities is not “reasonable or practical” during the crisis: Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; Asheville, North Carolina; Austin; Charleston, West Virginia; Charlotte Amalie and Christiansted, Virgin Islands; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Greensboro, North Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; Indianapolis, Indiana; Jacksonville, Florida; Pittsburgh and Latrobe, Pennsylvania; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; New York City; Niagara Falls, New York; Portland, Oregon; Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh/Durham; Sacramento and San Francisco, California.
