I’ve been waiting to see if any local media outlets would put 2 and 2 together and start asking what impact the recent airline cutbacks would have on the Asheville Regional Airport. Airlines are cutting back as fuel costs soar.
So how will all of this affect our local airport? I’ve yet to hear anything. So I’ll start the discussion.
This blog mentions that Delta has cut nonstop service from Orlando to Asheville, one of many cutbacks by Delta.
Orlando International Airport’s June flight schedule is out and it offers a glimpse of where some of the other big cutbacks that Delta Air Lines is making are coming from.
Among the list of cities that haven’t already show substantially reduced service in June from Delta and/or its regional carriers (and which haven’t already been publicly announced): Baton Rouge, La.; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Fayetteville, Ark.; Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C.; Key West, Fla.; Louisville, Ky.; Nassau, Bahamas; Norfolk, Va.; San Juan, P.R.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Tri-Cities, Tenn.
Delta appears to have ended service entirely to Baton Rouge, Dayton, Fayetteville, Fort Walton Beach, Greenville/Spartanburg, Norfolk, San Juan and Tri-Cities. No other airline flies Baton Rouge, Fayetteville, Fort Walton Beach, Greenville/Spartanburg and Tri-Cities.
Delta officials had already announced that the airline would end nonstop service from Orlando to Asheville, N.C.; Birmingham, Ala.; Charleston, S.C.; Columbia, S.C.; Fort Lauderdale; Greensboro, N.C.; Lexington, Ky.; Little Rock, Ark.; Miami; Las Vegas; Nashville, Tenn.; and New Orleans. They had also said substantially cuts were coming to service from Orlando to Boston; Knoxville, Tenn.; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; and Richmond, Va.
It is possible that some of Delta’s unannounced cuts are seasonal reductions that could restart in the fall or winter. But many are likely permanent, given that Delta says it intends to cut the number of seats it flies to and from Orlando nearly in half.
And this week, there’s been mention of a move by U.S. Airways to do away with free snacks and a move by American Airlines to charge more for extra luggage.
Will more service cuts come next? How will that affect the Asheville Regional Airport’s bottom line? Is the usage of our airport dropping?
1 Comment
Asheville’s airport (AVL) is highly vulnerable to the downturn in the airline industry. The airport has always had very limited flights and extremely high prices for tickets when compared to other cities, especially nearby Greenville GSP. All the AVL airport really offers passengers is service to hub cities for connections on to other destinations.
Passenger traffic at AVL is way down from recent years, and this will continue to decline given high oil prices and the impact on airlines. I would not be surprised to see Northwest and Continental Airlines make further cuts to their service to AVL. I think soon AVL may only offer service to Atlanta, Charlotte, and perhaps one flight per day to Detroit, Newark and Houston. Regional jets are notorious for their fuel inefficiency and the airlines simply can’t afford to fly them to small markets like AVL where there is not enough passenger or cargo traffic to justify service.
What boggles my mind is why the AVL airport has spent HUGE amounts of money over the past 5 years making cosmetic improvements to the terminal. A lot of this has been money from the cash cow known as Homeland Security and its amazing what can fall under that classification. For example, AVL has remodeled the terminal, added jet bridges, added baggage carousels, expanded rental car counters and lots, hangars, built large fences and even purchased a large tract of property across the highway from the terminal. The Airport Authority has said this was done to handle significant expansion and major future growth at AVL. Come on, this is a major was of tax dollars.
The AVL airport was just fine before all the "improvements" and it is never going to be a large airport by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it is best described as a "boutique airport", much like Jackson Hole, Wyoming or Aspen, CO. People who cannot afford the high fares to/from AVL will fly from GSP, Charlotte or Atlanta.
The Citizen-Times and other media in WNC have never covered these issues. Big surprise. This should be an important local news story.