AirTran question

[NYDisneyKid]

I remember when AirTran use to fly into Syracuse (SYR) NY. When did it stop service to that location? Wonder if they will start it again?

 

[snowy76]

AFAIK AirTran has never served Syracuse. Are you thinking of TransMeridian, maybe? TM operated here for a couple of years around 2004. AirTran does fly out of Rochester - I've flown them 4-5 times in the last couple of years. The drive is easy enough and the fares low enough to make it worth the hassle.

As far as coming to the market... there is absolutely no talk of any airlines coming to SYR any time soon. The SYR airport situation is a complicated one - they're transitioning to an airport authority after always being directly under the city's control. If anything, airlines have been dropping service, not adding - and no one's really in a position right now to negotiate for new contracts. Even years of lobbying by Chuck Schumer have done little for SYR (he helped bring JetBlue in, but their fares are no better than the legacy carriers now).


ETA: My bad... went back and checked and AT did in fact have service in SYR in the mid-1990s. Short-lived though - the rest of my original post still holds true. Affordable airfare from SYR has been elusive for a long time.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

care to make it interesting? my cousin flew years ago from FL to Syracuse ,on AirTran mind you.

 

[travelcoupons]

Their route map from 1998 shows they flew to Syracuse:

By 1999, Syracuse was gone:

 

[snowy76]

care to make it interesting? my cousin flew years ago from FL to Syracuse ,on AirTran mind you.

Not sure what you mean - did you catch my edit? AirTran flew out of SYR from 1995 to 1998.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-15955531.html

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/AirTran+Announces+New+Fall+Schedule-a020972425

I've been flying SYR-MCO regularly since 2003 and AirTran hasn't served this market in all that time. A lot of airlines just won't serve SYR anymore, when BUF, ROC, and ALB are all within a 2.5 hour drive. I'm still wondering how the SW-AT merger will ultimately affect those three. I'd love it if SW picked up SYR (they could drop ROC so you'd have service for BUF, SYR and ALB).