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.
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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