Airlines cut U.S. schedules despite strong demand

— -- Responding largely to high fuel costs, the USA's six big network airlines continue to trim their U.S. schedules despite strong travel demand.

To trim capacity, airlines can eliminate routes, fly them less frequently or switch to smaller planes. Whatever the course, travelers face reduced options and fuller flights.

The airlines, which handle about two-thirds of domestic flying, are reacting to this autumn's run-up in fuel prices, which can make some flights unprofitable, says William Swelbar, a research engineer at MIT's International Center for Air Transportation.

"With $90 oil, (airlines) have to really look in the mirror … to see whether the economics still make sense," he says.

Another factor: The airlines in recent years have been shifting more toward international routes, which, in general, are more lucrative.

Fuel and business strategy alone don't explain the reduction.

American, the world's largest airline, will fly less in the USA next month because an unusually high number of its planes are out of service for upgrades, says Tim Smith, an airline spokesman.

"By summer, we expect to be back to full strength," he says.

The year-to-year seat reduction by the big carriers means 72,000 fewer seats a day in the continental USA at a time when the average domestic flight has been running about four-fifths full. About 3% more people flew in the January-August period vs. the same period in 2006.

Schedule reductions will exacerbate problems with prices and selection already seen in Wisconsin, says Judith Berger, a Carlson Wagonlit travel agent in Fond du Lac, Wis. "We only anticipate it getting worse."

Schedule reductions could also complicate winter travel on packed flights, says Wayne Shank, deputy executive director of the Norfolk, Va., airport.