Reno airport braces for more cuts

— -- Continental Airlines' announcement that it is ending service to Reno is probably not the last cutback that local air passengers will see this summer, airport officials said Friday.

Continental flew one round-trip flight between Houston and Reno-Tahoe International Airport, with a second flight added during peak tourism months. The flights will stop Sept. 3, ending 20 years of Continental service to Reno.

With the Houston flights and other announced cuts, Reno-Tahoe has lost 10 round-trip flights this year.

Airlines across the country are slashing service because of the soaring price of crude oil, trading Friday at $134.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Southwest, which has about 50% of the market share at Reno-Tahoe, cut some flights. ExpressJet cut Reno service to Spokane, Wash., and Tucson Reno-Tahoe also lost one arrival and departure when Aloha Airlines filed for bankruptcy and ended passenger service.

Still looming are possible cutbacks by United Airlines. Last week United, the No. 2 carrier at Reno-Tahoe with 12.5% of its flights, said it's cutting up to 1,100 jobs, removing 70 airplanes from its fleet and slashing domestic capacity as it tries to cope with spiraling fuel prices.

On Friday, however, Reno-Tahoe officials said they had not yet been notified if United will cut its service to Reno.

"We are bound to see some more cuts here in Reno," said Brian Kulpin, public affairs manager at Reno-Tahoe. "It is just the state of the industry today, all across the country."

More bad news for travelers came this week as United and US Airways announced that they will follow the lead of American Airlines and charge $15 each way for single bag check-ins.

Although Continental only has 2.5% of the market share at Reno-Tahoe, the loss was greeted with dismay. The flights to Houston — a great connection point to other locations — were very popular, Kulpin said.

The 155-seat Boeing 737s that Continental flew into Reno-Tahoe usually were at more than 80% capacity, Kulpin said.

Some of Reno's top tourism officials said the departure of Continental will hurt.

"Last year an estimated 38% of all visitors traveled by air to the region," said Michael Thomas, executive director of marketing for the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. "The loss of the Continental flights affects a small percentage of Reno-Tahoe's overall visitor mix, but in this climate, any change that makes it more difficult for travelers to access our region is viewed as a negative."

Continental will also discontinue service to Oakland and Palm Springs, Calif., as hub operations in Houston and Cleveland are cut. Other cities losing Continental flights include Montgomery, Ala.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Hartford, Conn.; Sarasota and Tallahassee, Fla.; and Washington Dulles.

As a result of the discontinued service, the airline will close stations in Indonesia, Colombia, Germany and various sites across the United States.

Customers who are booked on flights previously scheduled to operate on or after Sept. 3 will be contacted by the airline to make alternate arrangements, according to various news reports.

"From Continental's standpoint, if you are going to cut back, then get out of the city and get rid of the costs, as opposed to just skinnying it down from five to four to three flights, because you still have all of the overhead," said Howard Putnam, the former CEO of Southwest Airlines and Braniff Airlines who lives in Reno. "It is a big disappointment for Reno but I understand why they are doing it."

"Now if you go ask Continental, they will tell you that the yield was not high enough and we couldn't make any money on the flight," Putnam said. "The load factors were high so my question would be, 'Why didn't you raise ticket prices to make it profitable?'"

A Continental spokesperson, who blamed the price of oil for leaving the Reno market, said Continental didn't raise ticket prices on the Reno-Houston flights because they would not have been competitive with other airlines. Continental is the only airline that flies non-stop between Reno and Houston, although other carriers fly to Houston with connecting flights and cheaper fares, according to an Internet search of airline tickets.

"Basically, the financial performances of the flights, coupled with the high cost of fuel, has made the losses too great to continue the service between Houston and Reno," said Continental spokesperson Julie King in Houston. "Even though there was good demand for the Reno service, the fares were not covering the cost to operate the flights in that market."

After Continental leaves, Reno-Tahoe will still have some "direct" flights to Houston, meaning the flights will stop in a connecting city but travelers will not have to disembark.

Reno-Tahoe will still have non-stop flights to Texas with American Airlines to Dallas, according to an Internet search.

The Reno Gazette-Journal is owned by Gannett, parent company of USA TODAY.