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Airlines Will Cut Routes Before Holiday Travel
August 06, 2008 12:23 PM
Travelers will have nearly 60 million fewer airline seats available to choose from during the 2008 holiday travel season than they did last year, according to numbers released today from the Official Airline Guide (OAG).
Airlines worldwide are eliminating routes before the end of the year because they are struggling to pay high fuel bills, but U.S. airlines in particular face a mounting crisis.
"From OAG's statistics, it looks quite possible that we may be facing a far more severe global downturn than we have experienced before," said OAG's chief operating officer, Steve Casley, in a Wednesday statement. "The industry's resilience will be pushed to its limits in the coming months, with carriers, airports and passengers alike all waiting and watching for a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel."
Data detailing fourth-quarter flight schedules show 275 airports worldwide will lose service entirely. As carriers announce where their service is on the chopping block, cities nationwide will be especially hard hit by the cutbacks. As carriers pull out of small U.S. towns, some regions will soon lose service altogether.
For instance, soon Continental will no longer be an option in nine U.S. cities, the airline announced in June. And while Oakland, Calif., still has many flights arriving and departing, American Airlines announced in early May that it would stop serving the airport come early September. Oakland airport previously lost service from three other carriers earlier this year.
OAG data reveals that as a result of the cuts, an estimated 3,500 aircraft will be plucked from the skies.
Still, the numbers reveal there is the most hope for trans-Atlantic routes. Capacity on those routes is still growing at 2 percent - a positive sign, though not quite as strong as last year.
-ABC News' Kate Barrett
August 6, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (1)
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ABC, could you by chance include a link to a list of the airlines and which cities they are closing the doors on?
It would be most news worthy....
Posted by: dk | Aug 7, 2008 3:23:08 AM
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