Airlines are increasingly cutting routes from their schedule, and one group in particular is being hit harder than the rest.
There’s several reasons for the cuts. Thanks to increases in labor costs and jet fuel, operating costs for airlines are starting to increase quite a bit. And while demand for travel is so high that it’s clear consumers are willing to accept price increases, it’s still becoming a lot for airlines to swallow.
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Additionally, due to a lack of pilots and air traffic controllers, the Federal Aviation Administration has authorized major airlines to begin dropping routes from their schedule in an effort to prevent the rash of congestions, delays and cancellations that were common last year. Recently, Jet Blue announced that it would be dropping a number of flights in the New York City area this summer.
While routes are getting cut all over, a new report from Politico makes it clear the people hit hardest are those who live in rural areas and small cities
Small Towns Are Getting Dropped From Airline Schedules
For example, the article points out that “American Airlines, the only national carrier serving the Del Rio International Airport and the area’s 36,000 residents, dropped a route connecting the city to Dallas this month, leaving it without any commercial service. For those trying to get out by air, their best shot now requires first driving two and a half hours to San Antonio or San Angelo.”
It’s a trend that’s been brewing since last year, as airlines have stopped flying to smaller cities, such as American Airlines dropping service to 15 cities, including Ithaca, New York, Toledo, Ohio, and Dubuque, Iowa. United Airlines cut flights to Lewisburg and Clarksburg, West Virginia, and West Paducah, Kentucky, amongst other locales, while Delta has not returned to 10 of the airports it left in 2020, including Flint, Michigan and Lincoln, Nebraska.
Since January 2020, at least 324 airports have experienced cutbacks, losing on average 30 percent of their flights, according to the Regional Airline Association, while more than 14 airports have lost commercial service completely, including cities such as Mobile, Alabama, Ogden, Utah; Stowe, Vermont., and Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
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