Copyright The New York Times
Most of the 780 canceled round-trip flights on Friday were concentrated at the nation's busiest airports, but the cuts disproportionately affected some of the tiniest airports, too. At Waco Regional Airport in Texas, American Airlines canceled two out of three scheduled round-trip flights to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, according to Cirium, an aviation data firm. American also cut one of two round-trip flights between Dallas and Wichita Falls Regional Airport in Texas. Flights to such small, regional airports can typically accommodate 50 to 75 passengers, while flights between big cities can often carry twice as many, if not more. The flights from Waco typically have nearly 70 seats, on average, according to Cirium, while the flights from Wichita Falls typically carry 65 seats. Flights to such small airports are typically among the least profitable operated by airlines and are among the first that carriers look to cut when they need to trim schedules. But for many residents in smaller cities like Wichita Falls, those flights are often the only practical travel option available. “Smaller regional airports having just one cancellation hits a little harder than it does for the hubs,” said Lauren Koss, the interim director at La Crosse Regional Airport in Wisconsin. That airport lost one of three round-trip flights to Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Friday. Those flights, which have capacities of around 75 passengers each, are the airport’s only traffic each day. The airport operated on Friday mostly as it usually would, Ms. Koss said, but the staff braced for more changes. “If this continues, we’ll definitely see the effects,” she said. At Columbia Regional Airport in Missouri, many travelers were waiting all day for flights to Washington, D.C. “We’ve been here since 6 a.m.,” Morgan Tanner, holding her 17-month-old daughter, Andi, said on Friday afternoon. Their 7 a.m. flight was delayed several times and rescheduled for 7 p.m. A handful of other regional airports saw service decline by a third. These airports were among those that saw the heaviest cuts. Aberdeen Regional Airport in South Dakota lost one out of three round-trip flights with Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Florence Regional Airport in South Carolina lost one of three round-trip flights with Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Fort Smith Regional Airport in Arkansas lost one of three round-trip flights with Dallas. Tyler Pounds Regional Airport in Texas lost one of three round-trip flights with Dallas. Valdosta Regional Airport in Georgia lost one of three round-trip flights with Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Yuma International Airport in Arizona lost two of five round-trip flights with Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Ashwin Seshagiri and Alison Hill contributed reporting.
