USA TODAY International Edition
DELTA RAMPING UP IN CINCINNATI
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:
Delta growing again in Cincinnati, this time to Austin and Phoenix
Delta Air Lines is expanding again in Cincinnati, announcing two new routes and an overall increase in capacity at its one-time hub.
Non-stop flights to Austin will begin May 1 while service to Phoenix launches Nov. 4. Delta will use Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jets for the Austin flights and Boeing 737-800s for the Phoenix flights.
With the new service, Delta says it will now be flying to all 20 of the top domestic air travel markets from Cincinnati. Beyond the two new routes, Delta also will bolster capacity on several of its existing routes from Cincinnati.
While the additions won’t return Cincinnati to hub status — it’s now a Delta “focus city” — the growth continues a recent change of course for Delta at an airport where it offered more than 600 daily flights as recently as 2005. Now, with the latest additions, Delta says its Cincinnati schedule will include 82 peak day departures to 36 destinations.
Southwest adds five new routes to its autumn schedule
Looking for a new non-stop option between Atlanta and Nashville? Or how about between Cincinnati and Denver?
Those were among five non-stop routes announced by Southwest Airlines as it rolled out its fall flight schedule. They’ll begin Aug. 7 along with the three other new routes: Los AngelesTampa; Raleigh/Durham-Kansas City, Mo.; and St. Louis-Hartford, Conn.
Southwest did not discontinue any year-round non-stop routes in its latest schedule update, though service was significantly reduced on several citypairs. That includes five domestic routes that will go from daily service to Saturday-only service. Those routes are Chicago Midway-Boise; Columbus, Ohio-Fort Lauderdale; St. Louis-Panama City, Fla.; Houston Hobby-San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Pittsburgh-Fort Myers, Fla. Another domestic route — DenverCharleston, S.C. — will go from daily non-stop service to non-stop service only on Saturdays and Sundays.
Spirit Airlines increases number of international routes
Spirit Airlines is adding three destinations in the Caribbean and South America, all of which will be served from Fort Lauderdale — the carrier’s largest base of operation.
Daily flights to Guayaquil, Ecuador, begin March 22 while thrice-weekly service to Cap-Haïtien on the north coast of Haiti launches April 12.
A new route to the U.S. Virgin Islands begins May 24 with three weekly flights to St. Croix.
The new service furthers a recent growth spurt for the company. Domestically, Spirit will begin flying from Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Va., by March. Once the St. Croix flights begin in May, Spirit will be flying to 65 destinations.
Allegiant bulks up on Florida’s Panhandle
Budget carrier Allegiant will add five new routes from Destin, part of a broader plan to establish a year-round base at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport in Florida’s Panhandle.
Allegiant’s new routes — all seasonal — begin in June. They’ll add non-stop connections between Destin and Concord, N.C.; Evansville, Ind.; Lexington, Ky.; Raleigh/Durham; and Bentonville/ Fayetteville, Ark.
With the new service, Allegiant’s schedule in Destin now includes either seasonal or year-round service to 21 destinations.
WOW Air hits ‘pause’ button on Iceland-to-Miami
WOW Air will “pause” its Miami schedule this spring, a move that could be the first stumble for the Icelandic budget carrier in its breakneck U.S. expansion.
WOW’s service between Miami and its hub near Iceland’s capital of Reykjavik will end April 7, almost exactly a year after the flights first launched. WOW confirmed the move but suggested Miami could be restored in the future as a seasonal destination.
“We are continuously evaluating what our customers want and adjusting the routes as needed,” Svana Fridriksdottir, VP of Communications for WOW Air, said in a statement provided to USA TODAY’s Today in the Sky blog.