American Airlines will temporarily halt flight routes to 15 small towns in the United States in October, indicating that some areas could be underserved if the coronavirus pandemic continues to destroy the travel industry.
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Decommissioned and suspended commercial aviation of American Airlines will be seen stored at Pinal Airpark on May 16, 2020 in Marana, Arizona.
American said it plans to suspend service during the “October schedule” period, which runs from October 7 to November 3, but there are no guarantees that service will return after that time.
American “continues to evaluate its network and plans for additional schedule changes in the coming weeks,” the company said in a press release.
The affected cities are Del Rio, Texas; Dubuque, Iowa; Florence, South Carolina; Greenville, North Carolina; Huntington, West Virginia, Joplin, MiIssouri; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Lake Charles, Louisiana; New Haven, Connecticut; New Windsor, New York; Roswell, New Mexico; Sioux City, Iowa; Springfield, Illinois; Stillwater, Oklahoma; and Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Those cities range from about 30,000 people, such as Williamsport and Del Rio, to the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek metro area, which has half a million people.
Although airlines have drastically reduced the number of flights they operate, major carriers that accepted federal aid through the CARES Act earlier this year have so far failed to cut services to an entire market.
But that requirement expires this fall, and American Airlines has already notified 25,000 workers that they could be evicted by October 1st. However, the company has said it will support a CARES Act extension through March 2021.
Small town airports have already been hit hard by the economic fallout of the pandemic, and if airlines stop serving certain areas, it could leave a smattering of “deserts” of air travel, making it more difficult for those locations around them bringing economies back to life as the pandemic subsides.
“About 75% of our traffic is a business traveler,” said Craig Williams, director of the airport in Kalamazoo, which is closest to Kellogg’s headquarters in Battle Creek. “If we do not have a recovery soon, then the aviation industry will have to take a really hard look at what is happening. And that will have implications for small airports across the country – us included.”
However, Williams said he is optimistic. It is expected that United Airlines will resume service to Kalamazoo just as American begins its one-month hiatus from the area.
But it is not clear if Americans will actually restart the service in November, and it is not yet clear when or if other airlines will take similar steps.
The pandemic has boosted the profits of the aviation industry, and large carriers are making tens of millions of dollars every day. And with demand for air travel near record lows and no sign of when it will return, airlines including Americans are scrambling to cut costs and fish to operate as leased companies for at least the next few years.
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