Several weeks ago we learned that US airlines would be allowed to drop service to dozens of cities, and that list of cities has now been approved and finalized. Let’s take a look at the details.
In this post:
The destinations that US airlines will be dropping
US airlines received billions of dollars in aid through the CARES Act, and one condition of accepting aid was agreeing to maintain service to all US airports that were previously served.
Airlines weren’t required to maintain all the same routes and frequencies, but at a minimum they needed to maintain at least some service to all airports that previously belonged to their network. The logic was to continue to give all communities access to air service.
However, US airlines have been able to apply for specific service exemptions, which were approved on a case-by-case basis by the Department of Transportation (DOT).
Several weeks the DOT announced that US airlines would be able to drop service to more airports:
- Airlines can drop service to either five total markets, or to 5% of their total markets served, whichever is greater
- Airlines could prioritize the markets to which they wanted to drop service, and then the DOT would make the final decision, ensuring that each market still has service from at least one airline
- These exemptions apply for service through September 30, 2020 (after that airlines can do whatever they want, since CARES Act funding runs out)
After a review period, the decision of which destinations can be dropped has now been finalized. Here’s a look at which cities US airlines will be dropping:
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines will be dropping service to the following five cities:
- Charleston, SC
- Columbus, OH
- El Paso, TX
- New Orleans, LA
- San Antonio, TX
Alaska Airlines is dropping service to five markets
Allegiant Air
Allegiant Air will be dropping service to the following six cities:
- New Orleans, LA
- Ogdensburg, NY
- Palm Springs, CA
- San Antonio, TX
- Springfield, IL
- Tucson, AZ
American Airlines
Surprisingly American Airlines will only be dropping service to the following four cities (which also spells the end of the 29 mile flight between Aspen and Eagle):
- Aspen, CO
- Eagle, CO
- Montrose/Delta, CO
- Worcester, MA
Cape Air
Cape Air will be dropping service to the following city:
- Portland, ME
Corvus Airlines
Corvus Airlines will be dropping service to the following five cities:
- Goodnews Bay, AK
- Kodiak, AK
- Napakiak, AK
- Napaskiak, AK
- Platinum, AK
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines will be dropping service to the following 11 cities, tied for the most of any airline:
- Aspen, CO
- Bangor, ME
- Erie, PA
- Flint, MI
- Fort Smith, AR
- Lincoln, NE
- New Bern/Morehead/Beaufort, NC
- Peoria, IL
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA
- Williston, ND
Delta is dropping service to 11 markets
Elite Airways
Elite Airways will be dropping service to the following city:
- Sarasota/Bradenton, FL
Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines will be dropping service to the following five cities:
- Greenville/Spartanburg, SC
- Mobile, AL
- Palm Springs, CA
- Portland, ME
- Tyler, TX
JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways will be dropping service to the following five cities:
- Albuquerque, NM
- Palm Springs, CA
- Sacramento, CA
- Sarasota/Bradenton, FL
- Worcester, MA
JetBlue is dropping service to five markets
Seaborne Virgin Islands
Seaborne Virgin Islands will be dropping service to the following five cities:
- Charlotte Amalie, VI
- Christiansted, VI
- Culebra, PR
- San Juan, PR
- Vieques, PR
Silver Airways
Silver Airways will be dropping service to the following five cities:
- Charlotte Amalie, VI
- Huntsville, AL
- Key West, FL
- Tallahassee, FL
- Tampa, FL
Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines will be dropping service to the following five cities:
- Asheville, NC
- Charlotte Amalie, VI
- Christiansted, VI
- Greensboro/High Point, NC
- Plattsburgh, NY
Spirit is dropping service to five markets
Sun Air Express
Sun Air Express will be dropping service to the following city:
- Nashville, TN
Sun Country Airlines
Sun Country Airlines will be dropping service to the following five cities:
- Madison, WI
- Philadelphia, PA
- Portland, OR
- Sacramento, CA
- St. Louis, MO
United Airlines
United Airlines will be dropping service to the following 11 cities, tied for the most of any airline:
- Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, PA
- Charlotte Amalie, VI
- Chattanooga, TN
- Fairbanks, AK
- Hilton Head, SC
- Ithaca/Cortland, NY
- Kalamazoo, MI
- Key West, FL
- Lansing, MI
- Myrtle Beach, SC
- Rochester, MN
United is dropping service to 11 markets
Bottom line
US airlines will be dropping flights to dozens of markets this summer, thanks to new permission granted by the DOT. If you’re booked on one of the above airlines to one of the listed destinations, expect you may very well get a cancelation notice soon.
I’d say there are two things that I find most interesting about the above list:
- Southwest Airlines didn’t request any service exemptions
- American Airlines is cutting only four markets, while Delta and United are each cutting 11 markets
What do you make of the US airports that airlines are dropping?
Will miss JetBlue service to Worcester, MA from Orlando. They had already discontinued nonstops, and we had to travel through JFK. Oh, well.....there's still PVD, MHT, and BOS. Just have to drive further to get to central MA.
Do you think it would be possible for you to recap the International destinations that US airlines are stopping flying in? I was about to book a flight for September and found that AA stop flying to YOW last June 2... and DL will do the same at YOW on June 20. I know some are temporary restrictions but many are as a permanent decision.
Madison wi sad
Once again...airlines will start raising
the price of airfare as there is less competition at these Airports.
Greed....drives all the Airlines...
A lot of these airports are within a couple of hours of larger airports. They already cost more to fly into than the larger airports nearby. It will just inconvenience the people who paid the premium so they didn't have to drive that far.
@Souvik Roychowdhury nearby at pgv (Greenville, NC) AA is already the only airline.
Sucks AA is dropping Oakland permanently. Soon WN is going to be the only airline flying from OAK.
theres no way theyre dropping service to Aspen. Who shall we fly to Aspen in the ski season? Blade Private Jet? theyd be losing so much $$ on that route
I wonder if United will still be serving ABE-EWR with their (not air) bus service? I belive this was the only regularly scheduled flight on equipment that never left the ground (not a codeshare like the amtrak routes).
Ouch... looks like my city will be taking a hit. (Charlotte Amalie) Not going to be good for our economy.
@Shawn The Alaska Flight from Columbus to Seattle was convenient, but was subsidized, at least initially. I don't know how many people it took to run ticketing/gate/baggage, but it may have been an expensive remote outpost, even if the flights were full.
Oh great, now New Bern will have to deal with an AA monopoly.
@Oops....interested as well on the EGE flights by AA.
Is that just for the summer? those flights are cash cows for the airlines during the winter (at least they were). Always full out of LAX, DFW, MIA, ORD, JFK with very high ticket fares on the A319s & 757s.
Basically, AA ended the mountain hopper flight that flew between EGE-ASE-MTJ. It is now flying nonstop to both EGE and ASE. I am booked on the ASE-DFW non-stop round-trip next week. According to the seat map (always a less than reliable indicator, I know) the DFW-ASE flight looks to be quite full.
I fly out of SFO instead of OAK because of the lack of options, particularly direct options. SWA is the airport’s biggest carrier, but I don’t like them and they don’t take me where I have to go. Now that United, American and Norwegian left there is no reason for me to fly out of OAK.
I'm confused. Are these permanent service eliminations, or just COVID-19 related with the intent to resume once traffic picks up?
I don't think AA intends to leave Vail during the busy winter ski season.
Shawn- I believe AS move service to Cincinnati. Looks like they only want to service only one Ohio City
@Sharon plenty of people living between DFW and Aspen over the summer. They fill up those small planes the whole season
The Spirit Airlines cities listed seem to be incorrect. DoT denied their request to stop flying to Charlotte Amalie and Christiansted, but allows them to stop flying Charlotte NC, Denver, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2020-05/Spirit%20Airlines%20Exemption%20050520_FINAL%20ISSUED.pdf
I haven't found anything that subsequently revised this determination.
Although Spirit may provide flights, does it actually provide a "service?"
I'll believe all these airlines will drop their STT flights when I actually see them off the July schedule. The requests to DOT were put in before it was realized USVI would actually open 1 June.
Mitch - AS stopping their CMH route surprises me. Its a larger midsize market. It’s always late but always always full. At least pre COVID. They are keeping their IND flight so strategically it might make sense but still surprising.
I called them today to get the details and they were very nice and said as far as they know now, at least for AS this is temporary and right now slated for just a month. Although they said a lot can change in the coming months.
I'd love to see this list mapped out. Just reading through, it seems the cuts are much more significant in the Midwest and East Coast. Hardly any West Coast cuts outside of a few California markets like Palm Springs.
Palm Springs is taking quite a hit.
- 3 carriers.
Well there goes my Amex airfare credit. Delta is ending service to the only destination I fly with them on.
I'm sure service will eventually resume to year round for aspen, but this summer, people that go to Aspen will probably stay in the Hamptons.
American is foolish. Delta and United are protecting their balance sheet by leaving these cities.
And I don't think state capitals have much relevance these days, I
Big correction: these are cities which can be dropped. This does not necessarily mean that they will be. For example, for AA, EGE (especially flights to EGE) still appears to be pretty strong.
Is Aspen moving to seasonal service for AA/DL, or going away completely?
Also, it’s kinda surprising that big 3 airlines would cut service to a state capital. Delta is doing that with Lincoln, and United is doing that with Lansing.
I fly SW almost exclusively. No changes here.
None of these communities, as best I can tell, is woke enough to justify continued air service.
@Kyle Roberts, yep, just happened. Ironically, pre-COVID, UA was hinting at a return to OAK. Now not only is there no hope of all the Big 3 serving it as they did before the Great Recession, longtime tenant JetBlue pulled out as well (to say nothing of last year's international bloodbath from Norwegian/Level/BA).
Looks like getting to the Virgin Islands is going to be much harder. Four on the list dropping service to Charlotte Amalie as well as some other regional gateways. Hopefully that will be restored at some point.
American is ending service to Oakland, CA. Forever