Cuts to air services that have ramped up this summer show no signs of abating this holiday season, prompting more travelers to pay higher fares for fuller planes at busy airports.
Service has halved from pre-pandemic levels at 59 small and regional airports across the United States, according to the Regional Airline Association, largely due to pilot shortages and high fuel costs. As of last month, 112 airports had lost at least a third of their flights, the RAA’s flight schedule review shows, out of 430 US airports with scheduled passenger service.
“The steep drop between 2019 and 2022 is dramatic and, if not unprecedented, rivaled only by the post-9/11 loss,” said Faye Malarkey Black, president and chief executive officer of the RAA. And while dozens of small towns receive federal subsidies to support air travel through the longstanding Essential Air Service program, Malarkey Black said 29 of those communities also face potential cuts due to pilot shortages.
Americans are already facing higher airfares this season. Travel platform Hopper expects Thanksgiving and Christmas airfares to be the highest in five years, with domestic round-trip tickets averaging $350 for Thanksgiving and $463 for Christmas. Overall, airfares rose 43% in October compared to the same month a year ago, the latest inflation data shows.
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