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June 25, 2008

American Airlines to stop regional service at T.F. Green

American Airlines will stop its regional jet service at T.F. Green Airport on Nov. 1, airport officials confirmed, pulling out of the airport it has served since 1984.

American Airlines and its American Eagle regional unit will end service to Green and seven other airports and drop flights at other airports as the airline grounds planes and lays off workers because of rising fuel prices. AMR Corp., the airline’s parent company, this week provided details of the cutbacks it had previously announced in May.

American, the world’s largest airline, and Eagle, will cut 62 departures from Chicago, 43 from St. Louis and 42 each from Dallas-Forth Worth and New York’s La Guardia airport, the company said yesterday in a statement. The reductions amount to 12 percent of service at American and 11 percent at Eagle.

Green will lose three daily departures to Chicago when Eagle leaves in the fall for the last time. Capacity on the regional jets is 44 seats.

At one point, Eagle had five daily flights from Green to Chicago and one daily flight to Dallas, according to Patti Doyle, an airport spokeswoman.

“They have been reducing capacity for quite some time,” she said.
Travelers still will be able to fly to Chicago from the Warwick airport, said Kevin Dillon, president of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, which runs T.F. Green.

“We have good service into Chicago both from Southwest and United” airlines, he said. “There’s capacity . . . to pick up those passengers.”

-- Journal staff writer Paul Grimaldi

The cutbacks are another result of the rising fuel costs pinching the airline industry and the country as a whole, driving up costs and keeping Americans closer to home.

Rising oil prices have drained profits from the airline industry, forcing carriers to cut jobs, ground less efficient planes and slash the number of flights in hopes of boosting air fares.

Airline fuel prices are up 91.5 percent from a year ago, according to the International Air Transport Association.

The airlines recently began charging for a number of previously free services and added ticket surcharges to offset higher fuel prices.

American Airlines started the movement when it decided to charge passengers $15 to check their first bag. United Airlines said it would add a $15 fee for passengers flying on leisure fares booked in advance and a $25 fee for checking a second suitcase.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 6:13 PM | Permalink

June 25, 2008

American Airlines to stop regional service at T.F. Green

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