Holiday travelers see fewer flights
— -- Airlines will offer almost 3,000 fewer domestic flights a day during the Thanksgiving season, promising fewer choices, fuller planes and higher fares for millions of Americans.
Compared with last Thanksgiving season, there will be 11% fewer flights — 2.6 million fewer seats — on non-stop domestic routes from Nov. 20, the Thursday before Thanksgiving, through Nov. 30, the Sunday afterward.
Hundreds of those routes have lost a quarter or more of the flights they had last Thanksgiving, according to a USA TODAY analysis of flight schedules that airlines filed with OAG-Official Airline Guide. OAG provides trip planning and booking tools for travelers.
Cost cuts airlines made to cover high fuel prices eliminated many routes and flights after Labor Day. Scarce seats got pricier.
The busy Thanksgiving season will be many travelers' first encounter with the slimmed-down schedules. The effect of fewer flights and full planes will make it harder for fliers to recover from delays, missed connections and canceled flights.
On Thanksgiving Day, the cutbacks are startling. US Airways lcc won't operate 40% of the flights it flew Thanksgiving Day last year. Delta Air Lines dal cut 26% of Thanksgiving Day flights, and United Airlines uaua cut 22%.
"Most of that's coming out in the afternoon, when people are eating turkey," US Airways spokesman Jim Olson says.
On many routes that lost a chunk of service, one or more carriers stopped flying between those cities because the service is no longer profitable.
By Thanksgiving, American amr and Delta both will have halted non-stop flights between Charlotte and New York LaGuardia airport, for example. There will be 45% fewer non-stop flights than last season.
Another non-stop route where travelers could have a tough time is between Dallas' Love Field and Kansas City. It has lost nearly half the flights it had last Thanksgiving. American and discounter Southwest Airlines luv served it last year. American stopped.
Passengers wanting to fly between Chicago O'Hare and Spokane, Wash., for Thanksgiving can't do it non-stop anymore. United Airlines, which now operates one flight daily each way, will stop on Nov. 2. Travelers will have to connect.
In fact, 84% of U.S. airports that had non-stop service during the Thanksgiving season last year to Chicago O'Hare — one of the USA's busiest airports — will have fewer flights this holiday.
Bence Boelcskevy gave up trying to book a convenient and affordable flight from Columbus, Ohio, to Reagan Washington airport to visit family.
"The airlines have taken away a lot of flights," he says. "I found flights were disappearing."
Delta, which used to fly that route non-stop along with US Airways, stopped earlier this year.
So the 64-year-old widower is staying in Columbus to deliver turkey dinners to poor families and shut-ins.
JetBlue Airways jblu is bucking the downsizing trend this holiday. It will operate 3% more flights.
Meanwhile, Southwest will add 15 extra flights Nov. 29-30, such as Dallas to Lubbock, Texas, to meet demand.