Airlines cut back on Cuba, add to China
Airlines constantly tweak their schedules, trying to find profitable new routes or pulling the plug on ones that have underperformed. Airports and communities court these new services.
There are dozens of changes to airline routes each month. Here’s a look at some of the most interesting:
TWO AIRLINES ALREADY CALLING IT QUITS IN CUBA
Two U.S. airlines are pulling out of Cuba, ending service to the nation only about six months after regular passenger flights between the nations resumed for the first time since 1961.
Silver Airways will end all nine of its planned Cuba routes by April 22. Low-cost carrier Frontier will do the same, dropping its Miami-Havana route June 4.
In doing so, both Frontier and Silver — a small regional carrier — blamed overcapacity on the recently allowed service between the USA and Cuba.
Frontier found the cost of operating in Havana “exceeded our initial assumptions,” spokesman Jim Faulkner said in an e-mail to USA TODAY.
EUROPEAN BUDGET CARRIER DEBUTS $149 FLIGHTS
Travelers in California will have a new non-stop option to get to Spain this summer.
The flights to Barcelona will come on Level, a new discount carrier launched by International Airlines Group, the parent company of European airlines British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus and Spanish carrier Vueling.
Two weekly flights from Los Angeles will start June 1; three weekly flights from San Francisco will begin a day later.
The California destinations will be the first U.S. destinations for Level, a no-frills operation that will fly a fleet of 314-seat Airbus A330 jets.
Level offers only economy seating, although 21 “Premium Economy” seats feature extra space at a higher fare. Customers buying Level’s cheapest fares will pay extra for checked baggage, meals and seat selection.
Level began selling seats March 17 with fares for as little as $149 one-way. The carrier said it sold 64,000 tickets in its first two days of sales.
ALASKA AIR TIGHTENS GRIP ON CALIFORNIA
Alaska Airlines’ grab for market share continues in California, even after its acquisition of San Francisco-based Virgin America.
Alaska announced a major expansion from the Bay Area on March 9, revealing 10 non-stop routes from San Francisco and three from San Jose.
Those flights would give Alaska Airlines and Virgin America nonstop service to 35 destinations from San Francisco. From San Jose, Alaska Airlines (along with Virgin America) would fly nonstop to 19 destinations, the most of any airline at that airport, according to Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan.
Alaska Airlines is beefing up service from San Diego. It will add eight non-stop routes from there by the end of 2017. Once those begin, Alaska Airlines will fly non-stop from San Diego to 28 destinations.
UNITED ‘BACK ON OFFENSE’ WITH 22 ROUTES
United Airlines announced a major expansion for this summer, the latest step in a broader turnaround effort by the USA’s No. 3 airline.
The growth spurt will bring United to four destinations it does not currently serve — Champaign, Ill.; Columbia, Mo.; Rochester, Minn.; and Santa Rosa, Calif.
It will also add 22 year-round or seasonal non-stop routes to the carrier’s network. United will boost flights on 15 routes it already flies.
United hopes its shift into expansion mode — coupled with recent service and product upgrades — will help it win back customers it lost to rivals American and Delta since its unevenly executed merger with Continental back in 2010.
“We’ve been shrinking, and our competitors have been growing at our expense,” Scott Kirby, president of United Airlines, told the Associated Press. Kirby jumped from president of American Airlines to take the same job at United last August. “We’re going back on offense,” he said.
BATTLE FOR O’HARE? RIVALS VIE FOR CHICAGO
American Airlines revealed routes from its hub at Chicago O’Hare.
The new domestic flights from Chicago will begin July 5 and will operate non-stop to Appleton, Wis.; Birmingham, Ala.; Boise; Colorado Springs; Greensboro, N.C.; Greenville, S.C.; and Ontario, Calif. The California route will be seasonal.
The routes come on top of previously announced American service between Chicago O’Hare and Barcelona (seasonal); Bozeman, Mont. (seasonal); and Hattiesburg, Miss.
The service underscores an intensifying competition between American and United in Chicago, where both airlines operate large connecting hubs.
News of American’s Chicago expansion came two weeks after United included seven new Chicago routes as part of its broader expansion there.
Most of United’s new Chicago service went to smaller domestic markets.
United’s new Chicago routes, all launching this summer, will go to Charlottesville, Va.; Champaign, Ill.; Columbia, Mo.; Reno; Rochester, Minn.; Spokane; and Tucson.
FLY NON-STOP FROM LOS ANGELES TO CHENGDU,
China’s Hainan Airlines began non-stop service between Los Angeles and the interior Chinese city of Chengdu on March 15. Hainan uses its new Boeing 787 Dreamliners to fly the 7,200-mile route, which becomes the 11th between China and the USA.