Smaller airports feel travel slump
By Doug Abrahms
Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — The falloff in air traffic after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks especially hurt smaller airports, where weekly flights have dropped, in some cases, by more than 60 percent, according to a report released yesterday.
Airports that saw the biggest percentage drop in flights from September 2001 to September 2002: 1. Boston Logan International: 23 percent 2. Los Angeles International: 20 percent 3. Newark International: 20 percent 4. Washington Dulles: 20 percent 5. Miami International: 19 percent 6. San Francisco International: 18 percent 7. Orlando International: 16 percent 8. St. Louis Lambert International: 14 percent 9. Pittsburgh International: 14 percent 10. Seattle/Tacoma International: 13 percent
Airlines have curtailed short-haul flights as Americans have chosen to either drive longer distances or skip trips altogether, according to data put out by Reconnecting America, a nonprofit group.
Top 10 airports in flight declines
"These service cuts represent a fundamental restructuring of the air-travel network, not a temporary adjustment," Hank Dittmar, co-director of Reconnecting America. "We expect this trend to continue."
In Hawai'i, the Hilo airport was among the small and medium hubs hardest hit across the country, losing 26.5 percent of weekly flights, according to the report.
Bankruptcies by United Airlines and US Airways, as well as employee cutbacks by most major carriers, have hurt large hub airports. Los Angeles International and Newark, N.J., saw weekly flights decrease by 20 percent between September 2001 and September 2002, according to the report.
But smaller airports have been hit harder because they have far fewer flights.
Flights to nonhub commercial airports have dropped more than 60 percent in Worcester, Mass.; Staunton, Va.; and Santa Fe, N.M.
Anthony Perl, director of City University of New York's Aviation Institute, said air travel would not return to its pre-Sept. 11 levels.
Because of decreased flight options, smaller seats and tighter security measures, Americans are driving longer distances to avoid flying, Perl said.
"We're entering just the beginning phase of what's likely to be the largest restructuring of the airline industry since deregulation (in the early 1980s)," said Perl, who reviewed the Reconnecting America report.
As Congress prepares to renew federal highway, railway and other transportation programs next year, Reconnecting America is advocating more federal money to turn large airports into comprehensive travel centers where passengers can more easily connect to other forms of transportation.
The organization, which plans to publish other reports on the nation's railway system, highways and transportation policy, wants to start a policy debate on funding other sources of travel as alternatives to flying.
