Starting in September Continental plans to reduce the number of passengers it carries on its domestic routes. The decision, spurred by the rising cost of jet fuel, deals a particularly stinging blow to Cleveland which will see the largest percentage reduction in service of the airline's 3 main hubs. In a press release, the company announced it intends to reduce its passenger capacity by 13% and discontinue direct flight service to 24 cities on flights currently served by the Cleveland Hopkins Airport.
SMITH: About 10 of those cities that came on board as part of the expansion program that was announced back in September, and then the balance, about 14 of those cities, are existing cities that were in service already.
That's airport director Ricky Smith explaining to an audience of reporters that the decision ends any plans for the expansion of Continental service- and further cuts an additional 14 existing routes. In September, when the expansion was announced, the price of oil was 79 dollars a barrel said Smith. Today it's 136 dollars a barrel - An increase of 72 % over 9 months. Scott McCartney is an airline analyst for the Wall Street Journal. He says high fuel prices mean cutting costs is a matter of life and death for the airlines.
MCCARTNEY: Airlines are really burning through a lot of cash right now at an alarming rate and you've got to stop that.
One way to slow the cash burn says McCartney is to reduce stops in weaker markets, including Cleveland.
MCCARTNEY: The reality is that economically it is the weakest of their main US hubs. There are going to be fewer people traveling and you can take those people over Houston instead of over Cleveland.
Despite the bad news, the airport director maintained a tone of optimism. Smith said he did not expect the reduction of landing fees to have a significant impact on airport revenues, and although Continental plans to eliminate 3000 positions company wide, Smith doesn't anticipate there will be any impact on other airport employees, or the airport concession plan. And besides, the fuel crisis, he said, is a storm everyone has to weather.
SMITH: We're disappointed obviously. I don't know that there's an airport in the country that's not either going through what we're going through or will go through what we're going through. You're going to see this type of reduction plan across the country. It's not unique to Cleveland.
And passengers seem to agree - though they're not happy about it. Matt Delaney is from Austin Texas and a platinum member of Continental's frequent flier program.
DELANEY: You're seeing it across the board I think with more and more airlines. I fly up to Cleveland probably every other week so if they're cutting seats it's going to make crowed traffic even more crowded. We're already sitting close to one another we're gonna sit that much closer.
And even passengers who rarely fly Continental recognize they're not immune. For example, this traveler at Hopkins from Australia.
PASSENGER: It affects everybody because it flows on throughout the whole system. American airlines, unfortunately, are like traveling on a bus really.
And he was flying first class. Gretchen Cuda 90.3.