As the U.S. airline industry faces what is shaping up to be the most critical financial period in its history - even more difficult than the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks - Tucson International Airport will lose at least 14 percent of its flights in the fourth quarter this year, compared to what was available a year ago.
The downturn comes just as the airport is wrapping up a $31 million concourse renovation. This month the last pieces of furniture – stools for the free Wi-fi counters – and etched glass partitions separating arriving from departing passengers were installed.
  
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Not all airlines are only planning cuts at Tucson. Three have scheduled increased service this fall:
• Alaska Airlines is planning to keep flying twice daily round-trip flights to Seattle. The second flight was added June 6 and had been scheduled to end Sept. 8 but Alaska has now extended the two-a-day flights indefinitely.
• Aeroméxico Connect is upgrading its flights to Hermosillo, Sonora, and beyond using 50-passenger regional jets every day in place of 33-passenger Saab turboprops that it has been using five days a week. In addition to the upgraded planes, the Aeroméxico Connect jets will continue on to Los Mochis and Mazatlán in Sinaloa, marking the reintroduction of direct – as in no change of planes – round-trip service to both cities. The new schedule takes effect July 7.
• US Airways earlier this month introduced non-stop flights to its biggest hub, Charlotte, N.C. The flight is currently operating as an overnight "red-eye" to Charlotte, but starting Aug. 19, the eastbound flight will depart Tucson at 8:25 a.m.
Compared to some other cities in the U.S., Tucson isn’t getting hit as hard by cuts as some. Oakland, for instance, is losing American Airlines service entirely. Similarly, Reno is losing all Continental service. Las Vegas is losing 67 of 141 daily flights on US Airways.
Still, though, Tucson will be down to 23 non-stop destinations in November, with the elimination of eight (plus the addition of one) since last November.
And that’s only what we know now. Airlines say they are continuing to look at the future and adjust their schedules.
As things now stand, Tucson International will have 82 fewer flights per week - an average of about 12 flights per day - in November compared to November 2007. That amounts to a 14 percent reduction.
There will be 6,566 fewer available seats each week departing Tucson. That’s a reduction of 11.4 percent.
In yet another measurement, Tucson will see a 12.9 percent reduction in available seat miles (ASM), a measure of capacity by non-stop distance (a plane with 100 seats flying 100 miles has 10,000 ASM). Tucson’s ASM this November will drop nearly 10.6 million to 71.4 million.
Non-stop flights have already been eliminated to New York, Washington, D.C., El Paso and Spokane. Additionally, ExpressJet has already announced that as of Aug. 23 it is dropping non-stop flights to Austin, Omaha and Reno and Continental Airlines will eliminate flights to Newark after Sept. 3.
Even in cases where Tucson isn’t losing non-stop service entirely, airlines are cutting back on the number of flights. In terms of available seats going out of Tucson in November, ExpressJet will be down nearly 55 percent compared to a year ago, American Airlines will be down 16 percent, Northwest will drop 14 percent, United and Continental will both be down about 12 percent and US Airways will be down 11 percent. Even Southwest is planning to have 5 percent fewer seats.
ExpressJet has also announced it intends to re-evaluate its flight schedule and make changes again effective Nov. 11. Southwest Airlines also hasn’t finalized its plans for November yet.
Here is a summary of changes that have already been determined by destination city:
• Chicago: American is eliminating one round-trip a day but will keep two a day to O’Hare. Southwest is planning to maintain two flights a day to Midway, no change.
• Dallas-Fort Worth: American has already eliminated its pre-6 a.m. departure and, so far, says it will maintain seven round-trips per day from Tucson, one less than it had a year ago.
• Denver: Frontier is planning to maintain two daily round-trips, the same as it had a year ago. United has already reduced its service to four round-trips per day, three of them on regional jets and one using a Boeing 737, which is being eliminated from the fleet. This market could be volatile. Frontier is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Southwest has been aggressively growing its Denver operations. Tucson is one of only five cities where Southwest currently operates but doesn’t compete head-to-head with Frontier. While it’s unlikely Southwest would launch a competitive battle in the current economy, it could quickly add service if something were to happen to Frontier.
• Houston: Continental is eliminating an early-morning regional jet departure to Bush Intercontinental, bringing the total number of round-trips most days down to four, two on regional jets and two on Boeing 737s.
• Las Vegas: As of mid-August, US Airways will eliminate its two daily round-tips, leaving Southwest alone operating five round-trips a day on the route.
• Los Angeles: With three airlines, this is the most competitive route from Tucson. United has already blinked, eliminating one of its five daily round-trips. Delta has two flights that could be in jeopardy if it chooses to reduce connecting operations at LAX. Southwest is the major carrier and so far is planning to keep six round-trips a day.
• Ontario, Calif.: ExpressJet will go to two round-trips, from three, as of Aug. 23. But on the plus side, the airline is introducing connecting service to Reno, Nev., and Monterey, Calif.
• Phoenix: US Airways’ connection to its hub will go down to 10 round-trip flights per day, from 13.
• Sacramento: ExpressJet is eliminating one of its two daily round-trips as of Aug. 23.
• Salt Lake City: Delta Connection’s SkyWest flights have already been reduced to four round-trips per day.
• San Antonio: ExpressJet is eliminating one of two daily round-trips as of Aug. 23.
Continental-United partner
They may have called off an outright merger, but Continental and United June 19 announced a partnership linking their operations more than any two airlines have without a merger. Not only will the two airlines code-share each other’s flights, there will also be reciprocity between the their frequent flyer programs and airport lounges.
Further, Continental said it will join the Star Alliance cooperative and leave SkyTeam. When that will happen is up in the air due to a contract barring Continental from leaving SkyTeam until nine months after a merger of Delta and Northwest is approved. Continental said it will seek to advance that date.
Other airlines in the Star Alliance include Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Lufthansa, Scandinavian, Singapore, South African and US Airways. SkyTeam member airlines include Delta, Northwest and Air France/KLM.
Baggage fee and buy back
As of June 19, three airlines had instituted a $15 charge for coach passengers to check a first piece of luggage, and Continental said it was studying the idea. American, which first brought up the idea, has already started charging the fee for tickets bought June 15 or later. US Airways will begin charging the fee July 9 for tickets bought June 15 or later. And United Airlines will begin charging the fee Aug. 18 for tickets bought June 13 or later.
Not one to miss an opportunity Loews Hotels has instituted a summer "Baggage Buy Back" promotion. Through Labor Day, all Loews Hotels will give guests up to $30 worth of hotel credit if they show an airline bag fee receipt.
Passenger bill of rights
In the midst of airlines’ fight for survival, talk of legislating a passengers’ "bill of rights" has, for the most part, gone the way of a lot of politicians’ talk. Congress failed to pass federal legislation last month. New York legislation has been struck by a federal court.
In Arizona, a passenger rights bill introduced by state Rep. Jonathon Paton, R-Tucson, ended back on March 4 when it morphed into an off-topic measure to allow a member of the state’s personnel board to become a precinct committeeman.
Contact David Hatfield at dhatfield@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4237. Inside Business Travel appears the fourth week of each month.
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