The
U.S. Transportation Department said all airports would continue
to be served by at least one air carrier. Despite some
objections to a tentative list made public on May 22, the
government did not make any changes.
The U.S. airline industry has been awarded $25 billion in
government payroll assistance grants to help weather the
pandemic. While carriers must maintain minimum service levels to
receive the assistance, many petitioned to stop service to
airports with low passenger demand.
The department has previously allowed some airlines to halt
service to some airports and rejected other requests.
Both United Airlines and Delta Air Lines won approval to halt
flights to 11 airports. Allegiant Air was allowed to halt
service to six airports, while JetBlue Airways Corp, Alaska
Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines gained approval
to stop flights to five airports each.
U.S. air carriers have said they are collectively burning
through more than $10 billion in cash a month as travel demand
remains a fraction of prior levels. They have parked more than
half of their planes and cut thousands of flights.
Cities that Delta can halt service to include Aspen, Colorado;
Bangor, Maine; Santa Barbara, California and Flint, Michigan.
United can halt service to airports including Chattanooga,
Tennessee; Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as well
as Key West, Florida.
Other airlines winning approval to halt some flights include
American Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and Silver Airlines.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Kim Coghill and
Edwina Gibbs)
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