This year's busy summer travel season has been one to remember, but not always for the best of reasons. Flyers are finally taking to the skies again after years of holding off, with passenger numbers finally back to pre-pandemic levels. But the influx of travelers has come as airlines struggle with staffing shortages and logistical issues that have led to delays and cancellations. Some carriers have scaled back their schedules to help get ahead of any potential snarls, while others have shifted focus to newly popular routes—and now one major airline has drastically altered its offerings by cutting more than 4,000 flights in the coming months. Read on to see which company is reducing its departures.
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Airlines acknowledge that this season has been difficult for travel.
If you've booked a flight recently, there's a decent chance you're aware of how unpredictable the travel process has become. As passenger frustrations mount, major players in the airline industry are stepping forward and acknowledging the issues—and even apologizing.
"This quarter's operational performance has not been up to our industry-leading standard," Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, told CNBC during an interview with CNBC on July 13, per The Points Guy. He also added that the airline "pushed too hard" and had "scaled back a bit" to help relieve ongoing issues.
However, others predicted that the industry's troubles might not be solved quite so quickly. During a July 21 interview with CNBC, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said it may take until 2023 until scheduling mayhem truly dies down.
"We're not going to get back to normal utilization and normal staffing levels until next summer," he said. "We're going to gradually improve—it's going to take until next summer to get there." And now, another major airline has decided to drop a sizable chunk of its upcoming schedule.
A major airline just cut thousands of flights from its schedule.
On August 2, Frontier Airlines uploaded new information about its schedule between November and January, revealing that it would be cutting more than 4,000 flights, Simple Flying reports. In total, the carrier appears to have dropped 43 routes that were expected to operate over the winter season—with no sign that the company will revive them.
The changes included 32 domestic route cuts, with 84 percent of the changes affecting service to and from Florida. The canceled routes include Atlanta, Georgia to Ontario, California; Buffalo to Fort Meyers, Florida; Cleveland, Ohio to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and Miami, Florida; Columbus, Ohio to Tampa, Florida; Colorado Springs, Colorado to Orlando, Florida; Dallas-Fort Worth to Miami; Detroit, Michigan to Miami; Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Green Bay, Wisconsin, Portland, Maine, and Rochester, New York; Fort Myers, Florida to Rochester and Syracuse, New York; Green Bay to Tampa; Indianapolis, Indiana to Fort Myers; and Islip, New York to Fort Myers.
Other cut routes include Kansas City, Missouri to Orlando; Las Vegas, Nevada to Madison, Wisconsin; Miami to Syracuse; Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Tampa; Minneapolis, Minnesota to Orlando; Omaha, Nebraska to Fort Myers; Ontario to Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Maine to Fort Myers and Tampa; Providence, Rhode Island to Fort Myers and Tampa; Raleigh Durham, North Carolina to Tampa; Rochester to Tampa; Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Orlando; and Tampa to Syracuse.
Many of the dropped routes were recently launched or restarted during the pandemic, Simple Flying reports. But the changes also leave some cities cut off from flight service to each other, including popular winter routes such as Portland, Maine to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Fort Myers.
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Eleven international routes have also been cut.
The changes also saw 11 international routes cut from the schedule, all of which include Cancún, Mexico. There will be no more service from Hartford, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts; Buffalo; Columbus; Dallas-Fort Worth; Detroit; Houston, Texas; Miami; Minneapolis; Providence; and Raleigh Durham to the popular vacation destination. Similar to the domestic cuts, Frontier launched many of the Cancún routes relatively recently, Simple Flying reports.
The airline recently lost its bid to merge with another major carrier.
News of the significant schedule changes comes days after plans for a merger between Frontier and Spirit Airlines were scrapped after months of negotiations, The Points Guy reports. Had the deal gone through, the combined airlines would've created the fifth largest carrier in the U.S. Now, JetBlue appears to be poised to carry out a takeover attempt of Frontier's competitor.
"While we are disappointed that Spirit Airlines shareholders failed to recognize the value and consumer potential inherent in our proposed combination, the Frontier Board took a disciplined approach throughout the course of its negotiations with Spirit," Bill Franke, board chairperson for Frontier, said in a press release. "We were focused on offering the appropriate value for Spirit, while prioritizing consumers and the best interests of Frontier, our employees, and shareholders."
