Airline Cuts at Your Hometown Airport (airlines, airports, price, international flights)

[missionhome]

The price of fuel is ridiculously high and it is killing the airlines. Domestic capacity is going to drop around 30% nationwide over the next few years meaning even more crowded planes, less direct flights, and less frequencies. I'm curious how these cuts are affecting different cities around the USA and what it will mean for you as a traveler from that city.
For me-
Closest Airport to Home: John Wayne Orange County Airport (SNA)
It has taken a big hit for an airport of its size. We completly lost Aloha Airlines, the only airline to offer service to the Hawaiian Islands from SNA, which means area residents must drive to LAX for all trips to Hawaii. Aloha offered service to Sacramento and Reno, both gone also. American Airlines is cutting its flight to Austin Texas in September and Alaska Airlines recently ended its service to Oakland. I used Alaska's flight to Oakland a few times because the rates were great and Oakland is closer to my sister's house in San Ramon than San Francisco Airport. Too bad, but Southwest still flies the route.

Largest Airport/International Airport: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
LAX is seeing a bit of reduction, especially from the legacy airlines, which means less frequent service. My husband often uses LAX for business because it has more direct flights to where he needs to go, even though it is 1.5 hours from our house. It also is where all of So Cal's international flights are.
What we loose-
Alaska Airlines service to Spokane
American Airlines (second largest at the airport)- service to Fort Lauderdale, San Antonio, San Juan Puerto Rico, and overall frequency reductions
Delta Airlines- Boston, Columbus, and Hartford all gone, and some frequency reductions
United Airlines (largest at airport, uses it as hub)- service to Hong Kong, Des Moines, Modesto, overall frequency reductions
Aer Lingus- all service to Dublin
Singapore Airlines- Taipei

We are great full to gain the following despite the rough economy:
Vancouver by Sunwing Airlines
Sydney by V Australia (a much needed competitor to Qantas and United who dominate the route)
Flagstaff and Prescott by Alaskan
Los Cabos from United
Dubai!!! from Emirates

How are thing going at your airports???

[Samrai309]

In my neck of the woods, Daytona Beach, FL has an airport(DAB) that could be the greatest airport --if it actually had service that was relatively convenient. Delta has the monopoly there. They operate the most flights connecting through Atlanta. They therefore set the standard for prices. US Airways has a few flights that connect mainly in Charlotte so you can get to some places with some convenience, but they are usually more expensive than Delta when you factor in taxes. Continental has I think one flight daily that goes to Newark, NJ (EWR) to get you to the NY area or other points. This is not convenient for me since I need to get to Long Island. This airport is 25 mins from where I live in NE Florida. Jacksonville airport (JAX) and Orlando (MCO) are the bigger airports, approximately 100 miles away from me in either direction (north or south) that are basically equidistant from where I live. In order for me to get good airfare deals, I need to book out of those two airports, drive, pay gas and parking and then see if it is a deal anymore. I guess due to the limited service and being in the shadow of Orlando despite being its own destination city, DAB prices are always higher. Airtran came in a little over a year ago and all prices came down so airlines were much more competitive and fair. However, Airtran recently pulled out citing "low loads". Not really sure what they mean by that term since the flights were ALWAYS full and for a few months they actually ran a nonstop between DAB and NY's LaGuardia airport. Now that they are gone, prices are back up again and Delta, who was matching Airtran in price and service (nonstop), has since gone back to its old ways. Now all flights are connections. If I have the option of a nonstop, even if the price of gas, the drive, the parking and the wear and tear on my car are factored in, I will drive to Orlando or Jacksonville. With delays at these major hubs today and delays in general, its not worth my time.

I choose to drive to Jacksonville for a few reasons:
1. I hate the drive to Orlando
2. Parking in Jax is 4 dollars cheaper per day
3. Gas is cheaper in the Jacksonville area
4. Jetblue offers nonstop service to JFK (they are one of the only to do so out of Jacksonville airport)

[cleosmom]

Our airport is more or less closing for a month due to runway repairs. That should make things interesting