In city after small- to medium-sized city, airlines are cutting flights this fall. If you have not noticed yet, you will right after Thanksgiving.
The Wall Street Journal said:
Cheap fares stimulated tons of travel over the past 20 years, but now airlines are slashing schedules in markets where cheap fares dominate. Communities that have enjoyed fierce airline competition now are paying a price in higher fares and fewer flights, while cities where one airline has a fortress hub are seeing far smaller schedule cuts.
The Official Airline Guide (OAG) said
, "The world's airlines will offer 59.7 million fewer seats in the fourth quarter of 2008 than they did a year ago." (
See charts and graphics.)
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The Journal reported:
Vacation destinations such as San Juan, Honolulu, Las Vegas and Orlando are all scheduled for big cuts in flights this fall. So are smaller cities dependent on small jets, like Savannah, Ga.; Pensacola, Fla.; Tucson, Ariz.; and small hub cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Tiny cities dependent on turboprop planes, many of which are being taken out of service, also will suffer. Thirty-six airports that had commercial airline service last year won't have it this fall, according to OAG. The largest in terms of air service is Bullhead City, Ariz., which averaged 329 seats a day last November. Another 29 small airports will lose more than half their service.
Many large cities hit with capacity cuts of 15 percent or more are Southwest Airlines-heavy airports: Ontario, Calif.; Kansas City, Mo.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Orange County, Calif.; Spokane, Wash.; Reno, Nev.; Tulsa, Okla.; Hartford, Conn.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Las Vegas; and San Jose, Calif. Chicago's Midway Airport, where Southwest dominates, will lose 17 percent of its seats in November, while Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, where fares are generally higher, will see an 11 percent loss in service.
