The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
April 22
Alaska Airlines will drop a number of routes in August, including transcontinental service to Washington Dulles International Airport from both Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). “We’ve seen a recent decrease in demand on our routes between San Francisco-Washington Dulles and Los Angeles-Washington Dulles, potentially connected to economic uncertainty and a decrease in government-related travel,” Alaska told Aviation Week. Both routes will be discontinued from Aug. 20. The carrier noted it will continue to operate flights from both LAX and SFO to Reagan Washington National Airport. Alaska also will end service between SFO and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) from Aug. 20. “Other airlines offer a greater frequency of flights on [the SFO-ORD] route compared to our once-daily flight,” making it difficult to compete, the airline said. Alaska will also drop service between LAX and Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS) in Nassau, Bahamas. The carrier started serving NAS in December 2023 from both its Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) base and LAX in December 2023. “For the past year and a half, we’ve tried a variety of strategies to make the route financially successful from both Seattle and LAX,” but have not had success, the airline said. Alaska’s last LAX-NAS flight will be conducted on Aug. 17. Seasonal winter service between SEA and NAS has already ended for the year and there are no plans to resume it next winter.
BermudAir opened service between Bermuda’s Wade International Airport and Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in North Carolina. The service is being flown 2X-weekly with an Embraer 175 aircraft configured to carry 70 passengers. BermudAir CEO Adam Scott said the “new route strengthens ties for leisure, business and education,” pointing to fast-growing RDU’s proximity to three major research universities. RDU CEO Michael Landguth said, “thousands of travelers fly between RDU and Bermuda each year on vacation, for business opportunities and to pursue an education at our colleges and universities.” But those passengers had to connect via another airport. With nonstop service, demand between RDU and Bermuda is expected to grow, Landguth said.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) in Texas reported its two largest airlines, both based in Texas, saw notable year-over-year passenger traffic decreases at the airport in February. Passengers at AUS in February totaled 1.4 million, down 6.1% year-over-year. Lead carrier Southwest Airlines totaled 576,690 passengers at AUS for the month, down 5.6% from February 2024. Second-leading carrier American Airlines’ passengers totaled 248,882, down 24.1% year-over-year. But other carriers increased service from the Texas capital. Delta Air Lines’ passengers totaled 215,063 for the month, up 15.1%, while United Airlines passengers totaled 192,527, up 5%. In addition, Alaska Airlines passengers totaled 42,841, down 24.6%, while Frontier Airlines passengers totaled 23,133, up nearly by a factor of five from February 2024.
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