AIRLINES SHAKE UP SCHEDULES
Where they’re adding and cutting service this summer and fall
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:
A SECOND AIRPORT FOR METRO SEATTLE?
Seattle travelers will soon have a secondary airport if Alaska Airlines gets its way. The Seattlebased carrier hopes to begin flying from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., a facility about 25 miles north of Seattle that does not currently have commercial passenger airline service.
Alaska Airlines said its flights there would begin in the fall of 2018 and would come only after a passenger terminal is built at the airport.
Alaska did not immediately reveal schedule plans, saying its Paine Field expansion remained subject to government approvals. But, if approved, Alaska said could eventually fly as many as nine daily round-trip flights from the airport.
Paine Field already hosts a busy flight schedule, but that’s not from regular airline service. Instead, the facility is adjacent to Boeing ’s largest assembly line, where the U.S. jetmaker performs final assembly on its 747, 767, 777 and 787 wide-body aircraft.
Alaska Airlines operates its busiest hub at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which sits on the south side of the city of Seattle. Everett is on the north side, about 40 miles from the region’s primary Seattle-Tacoma airport.
Alaska touted its planned service at Everett’s Paine Field as a way to expand its reach into the northern stretch of Seattle’s metro area, where travelers can facing daunting traffic on Interstate 5 to get to Seattle-Tacoma.
SOUTHWEST ADDS NEW ROUTES
Southwest will add several new non-stop routes when its fall schedule begins in November. Four of the Dallas-based carrier’s new routes will be to international destinations.
From its growing base in Fort Lauderdale, Southwest plans daily service to both San Jose, Costa Rica, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The routes, pending government approval, would begin in November, giving Southwest 10 international destinations from Fort Lauderdale.
Southwest also announced two new non-stop routes to the Mexican beach resort of Cancun, adding Saturday-only service from both Nashville and St. Louis. Those flights start Nov. 11. With the addition of Nashville and St. Louis, Southwest will fly non-stop to Cancun from 12 U.S. cities.
Domestically, Southwest will add service from Milwaukee to both Cleveland and Nashville, starting Nov. 5.
One year-round route is being terminated as part of Southwest’s fall schedule. Flights between Milwaukee and Minneapolis/St. Paul will end Nov. 3.
FRONTIER AIRLINES IS EXPANDING
Two new cities will join Frontier Airlines’ network this summer, Providence and the Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, N.Y.
From Providence, daily service to both Denver and Orlando begins Aug. 14. Providence’s T.F. Green Airport, located about 60 miles from central Boston, will be Frontier’s only current destination in New England. Frontier says it will be the only carrier flying non-stop between the state capitals of Providence and Denver.
Frontier’s Long Island service begins Aug. 16 with daily service to Orlando. The MacArthur Airport, about 50 miles east of Midtown Manhattan, will be Frontier’s second current destination in the state of New York. Frontier also flies from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Frontier also will add two routes from Las Vegas, launching daily non-stop service to Miami and Raleigh/Durham on Aug. 14.
Frontier will use Airbus A320 jets that seat 180 to 186 passenger on all of the new routes.
TWO NEW WAYS TO GET TO CANCUN
Spirit Airlines will launch two new routes to the Mexican beach resort this fall. Flights from Baltimore/Washington (BWI) and Chicago O’Hare will begin Nov. 9, with Spirit offering one daily round-trip from each city.
“These new flights expand our presence in Cancun and bring our first international routes to Baltimore/Washington and Chicago,” Mark Kopczak, Spirit’s vice president of Network Planning, says in a statement.
Once the new flights begin, Spirit will serve Cancun with non-stop flights from six U.S. cities.