- American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines have exited 74 airports since 2020.
- Increasing operating costs and staffing shortages have impacted regional markets in recent years.
- Some of the airports are in the Essential Air Service program and are now served by a new airline.
Regional airports have become one of the biggest casualties of the coronavirus pandemic.
Aviation consulting firm Ailevon Pacific reviewed Cirium data to determine which airports the US' biggest airlines have left since 2020. In September 2022, the company's research revealed American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines had exited 59 airports. The three major airlines have since dropped 15 more regional airports.
In total, American has left 19 airports, Delta has exited 17, and United has departed 38.
While most of the airports are still served by competing carriers, a few were left without any airline service. For example, American has departed Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which has seen another operator yet.
Some of the airports are part of the Essential Air Service, a federal program that was established to ensure certain communities do not lose their connection to the national air network by subsidizing airlines to operate routes to the protected cities. Williamsport is not on the list.
Pierre and Watertown in South Dakota, two cities cut by United in November 2021, are EAS airports. Denver Air Connection took over the service for United.
The trend of airlines leaving small markets is not new and became common during the COVID-19 pandemic, though the trend is continuing. American, Delta, and United have all cut routes in recent years, citing poor performance and the pilot shortage as contributing factors.
Henry Harteveldt, president and travel industry analyst of Atmosphere Research Group, told Insider in an earlier interview that routes to many regional airports are simply unsustainable.
"As hard as it is for the people that live in these small towns to lose airline service, it is an unfortunate reality that airlines are not just going to serve a city out of civic responsibility," he said.
Harteveldt further explained that "airlines are going to seek out markets that they believe will give them an advantage, but if a city isn't profitable, they will cut it."
The lack of crews has also pushed airlines, including American and United, to ground regional aircraft because they simply don't have enough pilots to fly them.
Here's the breakdown:
American
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- Arcata/Eureka, California
- Long Beach, California
- Oakland, California
- New Haven, Connecticut
- Columbus, Georgia
- Dubuque, Iowa
- Sioux City, Iowa
- Duluth, Minnesota
- Meridian, Mississippi
- Hattiesburg, Mississippi
- Joplin, Missouri
- Islip, New York
- Ithaca, New York
- New Windsor, New York
- Stewart, New York
- Toledo, Ohio
- Williamsport, Pennsylvania
- Cheyenne, Wyoming
Delta
- Fort Smith, Arkansas
- Santa Barbara, California
- Durango, Colorado
- Grand Junction, Colorado
- Peoria, Illinois
- Flint, Michigan
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- Manchester, New Hampshire
- Newburgh, New York
- New Bern, North Carolina
- Akron, Ohio
- State College, Pennsylvania
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
- Newport News, Virginia
- La Crosse, Wisconsin
- Cody, Wyoming
United
- Texarkana, Arkansas
- Flagstaff, Arizona
- Santa Rosa, California
- Stockton, California
- Alamosa, Colorado
- Pueblo, Colorado
- Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida
- Tallahassee, Florida
- Hilo, Hawaii
- Twin Falls, Idaho
- Springfield, Illinois
- Evansville, Indiana
- Paducah, Kentucky
- Alexandria, Louisiana
- Monroe, Louisiana
- Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Lansing, Michigan
- Muskegon, Michigan
- Rochester, Minnesota
- Cape Girardeau, Missouri
- Columbia, Missouri
- Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
- Kearney, Nebraska
- Ogdensburg, New York
- Plattsburgh, New York
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Pierre, South Dakota
- Watertown, South Dakota
- Abilene, Texas
- College Station, Texas
- Killeen, Texas
- San Angelo, Texas
- Shenandoah, Virginia
- Everett, Washington
- Clarksburg, West Virginia
- Lewisburg, West Virginia
- Eau Claire, Wisconsin
- Wausau, Wisconsin
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