Fewer flyers flocked to airport in August

For 37 straight months, passenger traffic grew at San Antonio International Airport, but in August the streak was over.

The reasons included the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, Hurricane Dorian and the discontinuation of some Frontier Airlines flights.

Airport statistics show 874,121 passengers traveled through San Antonio International in August, a decrease of 0.9 percent from August 2018.

“The airline industry is very fluid, and we knew the month of August would present us with challenges as the (737 Max) grounding and hurricane season began to overlap,” San Antonio Aviation Director Russ Handy said in an airport bulletin.

Handy said the elimination of some seasonal flights offered by Frontier Airlines also played a role into the decline.

Nationwide, the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics show the number of airline passengers was up 3.9 percent in August compared to the same month the previous year, or 84.2 million compared to 80.99 million.

“With U.S. airlines offering historically low fares, travelers are continuing to take to the skies in record numbers,” said Carter Yang, a spokesman for Airlines for America, an industry trade group.

He said his organization expects 2019 to set a record for overall passenger traffic.

Locally, San Antonio airport statistics show the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max following two overseas crashes — one in October 2018 and the other in March — continues to affect Southwest Airlines and American Airlines. The carriers are the first and second largest at San Antonio International, respectively, in terms of flights.

American has canceled its daily flight to Philadelphia until Nov. 4, and Southwest its daily flight to Oakland, Calif., also until Nov. 4. Southwest also has reduced daily frequency to Love Field in Dallas, Chicago’s Midway International Airport, Las Vegas and San Diego, Calif., through December.

Handy said a very slow-moving Hurricane Dorian in August “led to an extended period of canceled flights departing (San Antonio International) to Orlando due to inclement weather.”

Airport spokesman Rich Stinson said the airlines move didn’t affect only San Antonio.

“Frontier’s corporate business decision not only impacted Frontier service at SAT, but other peer markets as well, such as Austin, San Jose and Cincinnati,” he said. “Several of Frontier’s

seasonal routes (11) at SAT either did not return or ended in early 2019.”

Stinson said the majority of canceled flights operated two or three times per week. Many of them began in August 2018.

“The (year-over-year) impact of the withdrawn flights is now being experienced in the airport’s monthly data,” he said.

Among the canceled flights were service between

San Antonio and Albuquerque, N.M.; Tulsa, Okla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville, Fla.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Philadelphia.

Stinson said Frontier continues to provide service out of San Antonio to nine markets – Denver; Las Vegas; Ontario, Calif.; Orlando; Atlanta; San Diego, Calif.; New Orleans; Colorado Springs; and Washington-Dulles.

He said the company plans to add destinations at San Antonio International, “including the possibility of resuming past routes, at a measured pace.”

Frontier Airlines officials didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Handy downplayed the August drop in passengers.

“Even with these uncontrollable factors, we were still hopeful we would reach a 38th consecutive month, but fell less than 1 percent short.” he said.

Handy said he sees continued growth at the airport, despite the August drop.

“If our current demand continues, our projections indicate a 4 percent to 5 percent increase in passengers from 2018,” he said.