Airline Flight Cuts End Up Hurting Airports and Hotels, Too

During the first six months of this year in Las Vegas, the number of meetings in area hotels dropped 2%, according to the Convention and Visitors Authority. Hotel room occupancy rates during the first half fell slightly, and revenue from Las Vegas' casinos dropped 5%.

Officials are bracing for worse results this fall. "We're hearing from local hotels that some corporate meetings are being shortened, delayed or canceled," says Kevin Bagger, the authority's research director. That's alarming because meetings of fewer than 500 people account for 50% of the region's meeting attendance. Large conventions that run in the thousands account for 25%.

Airports hurt

On the front line of the airline industry's woes are the airports, whose budgets depend in large part on fees that airlines pay for use of the facilities. The Airports Council International, their trade group, says at least a dozen U.S. airports are cutting fees or offering airlines other incentives to stay or to start service. They include Baton Rouge; Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Mobile, Ala.; Minneapolis; Norfolk, Va.; Sacramento; San Jose; and Tampa.

"It's a lot easier to keep an airline you have than attract new ones," says New York Port Authority spokesman Pasquale DiFulco.