Orlando Flights Getting Ugly

[TheRustyScupper]

{part of airline article}

"By DAVE CARPENTER, AP Business Writer
Wed Jun 4, 5:41 PM ET
CHICAGO - First it was soaring ticket prices and vanishing bargain fares, then new baggage fees. Now air travelers are facing dwindling choices for when they can fly and where — even to such popular tourist destinations as Las Vegas and Orlando . . ."


1) Airlines have started cutting flights to Orlando.
2) Most cuts are in the 17%-21% range.
3) Delta is cutting almost 45% of its Orlando flights.
4) Airlines can't make money on tourist traffic.
5) They need business travel for profits, not families.
6) Especially to popular destinations like Orlando.
7) In the short term and longer term for flights to Orlando, look for
. . . less flights and choices of flight times
. . . far less capacity (seats) available
. . . fewer non-stops (Delta is cutting almost all non-stops)
. . . higher fares
. . . frequent schedule changes through November
. . . more bumping of passengers who already have tickets/ressies

 

[SandraVB79]

I don't get the "no non-stops". At some point, a plane has to fly straight to Orlando, right?

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I don't get the "no non-stops". At some point, a plane has to fly straight to Orlando, right?

Sometimes they fly by and let you jump.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I don't get the "no non-stops". At some point, a plane has to fly straight to Orlando, right?

The idea is that airlines will drop many nonstop flights from non-hub airports to Orlando. So, to make up an example, people who might currently fly nonstop from Indianapolis to Orlando might find that they can only fly to Orlando by changing planes at major hub such as Atlanta.

This can be good or bad economics for the airlines.

If a nonstop flight averages only two thirds full -- and if most of the passengers are leisure passengers paying heavily discounted fares -- it makes sense for the airline to drop the nonstop route and sell seats on existing flights in and out of their hubs. The airline is then likely to only offer discounted fares on late-night or early-morning flights which might otherwise have empty seats. And the airline will gladly lose the business from passengers who are only willing to pay really low fares that are below the airline's cost.

But there's a downside for the airlines too. It costs more to move a passenger from point A to point B through a connection -- more fuel, more labor, more baggage handling, more landing fees, more gate fees.

Also, it creates a vacuum that a low-cost carrier may be eager to fill at some point. Right now, the low-cost carriers also face high fuels costs, so they've slowed down or even reversed their expansion. But the low-cost carriers still have operating cost structures that allow them to break even at lower fares than the legacy airlines.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Mistake

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Delta has already ended non-stop flights from Birmingham and has never had a non-stop from Montgomery. Our only choice now is to drive to Atlanta and fly from there since air fare from Montgomery is now $700 per person. The only exception is that Southwest still has non-stops from Birmingham but I figure that will be gone soon too.

 

[TDC Nala]

I have a total of 7 round-trip flights booked for the rest of the year from Washington, DC (all nonstop from Dulles) to Orlando. Prices are including taxes/fees.

One (4th of July weekend) cost a total of $189.
Four cost a total of $129 each.
One is currently costing $171 but that will probably come down.
One cost a total of $103.

I don't have problems yet. When I do, for sure I won't do so many trips.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Delta has already ended non-stop flights from Birmingham and has never had a non-stop from Montgomery. Our only choice now is to drive to Atlanta and fly from there since air fare from Montgomery is now $700 per person. The only exception is that Southwest still has non-stops from Birmingham but I figure that will be gone soon too.

When we flew SW to Orlando last December we landed in Birmingham first. I would bet that route will continue.
Delta hasn't flown non-stop out of DFW for awhile. We typically fly American but those baggage fees are going to kill us. We might try AirTran for non-stop, or SW if the schedule isn't bad and the price isn't higher than a non-stop.

 

[Uncleromulus]

There are those of us who HATE flying anyway--one take-off and one landing are quite enough. If they did away with non-stops out of Baltimore, that would pretty much end our flying to WDW.
The airlines are in SORRY shape----

 

[barreloflaughs]

The airlines are in SORRY shape----

Sorry shape is an understatement. The airlines are approaching critical condition.

Airline industry profit forecasts for current fiscal year:

September '07:
+ $7.8 Billion

December '07:
+ $5.0 Billion

March '08:
+ $4.5 Billion

June '08:
- $2.3 Billion (assumes oil averages $107/barrel for 2008); or
- $6.1 Billion (assumes oil remains at $135/barrel 'til year end)

That is a delta $14 billion in forecasts since Sept.

And you can bet that oil will NOT remain at $135/barrel for the rest of the year. $150/barrel is certainly acheivable in the coming weeks.

Expect enormous cuts from the airlines. And expect the oil fat cats to keep getting it while they can...

barrel

 

[OhMari]

Midwest has stopped early evening flights from Milwaukee to Orlando. I just rebooked my sons flights for November. My flight is a week earlier and they kept messing with the times. Now it is later in the afternoon and I had to reschedule. I had to pay an extra $100 a ticket, since I needed the change, but when they made the change I didn't get any compensation.

 

[KYMickey]

I have a total of 7 round-trip flights booked for the rest of the year from Washington, DC (all nonstop from Dulles) to Orlando. Prices are including taxes/fees.

One (4th of July weekend) cost a total of $189.
Four cost a total of $129 each.
One is currently costing $171 but that will probably come down.
One cost a total of $103.

I don't have problems yet. When I do, for sure I won't do so many trips.

The glad you live in DC! The airlines just don't want the politicians to know how bad they are S***wing the general public so they keep the fares for the politicians to go on vacation cheap! For the rest of us in other parts of the nation we get F**ked.

 

[minnie61650]

Air Tran and Spirit still have good rates for non stop flights from Michigan during Sept. when we are going.

Air Tran from Flint $94 each way.
Air Tran from Detroit $87 Return $94

Spirit from Detroit $87 Return $99

We have not booked any flights since we are still thinking about driving.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

Delta has already ended non-stop flights from Birmingham and has never had a non-stop from Montgomery. Our only choice now is to drive to Atlanta and fly from there since air fare from Montgomery is now $700 per person. The only exception is that Southwest still has non-stops from Birmingham but I figure that will be gone soon too.

Delta is currently planning to cut up to 45% of it's flights into Orlando. Why? Because most of the passengers are leisure passengers.

Other tourist destinations are suffering the same...Las Vegas, for example.

 

[mitros]

Mistake

.....whats a mistake?

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

International service is a concern locally. Last year LTU discontinued Dusseldorf service and this year MCO has lost Condor to Frankfurt and Martinair Holland service to Amsterdam. New Lufthansa service to Frankfurt has been a bright spot as has Aer Lingus service to Dublin. SFB has added Lisbon service on TerraAmerica and Brussels service on Jetairfly but these are obscure airlines with not much of a track record, relatively speaking.

BobK/Orlando

 

[Justin the Hook]

I got $200 round trip from BWI on AirTran. Hopefully they are still in business in September

 

[acourtwdw]

Last week we got $35 each way on Spirit out of Detroit! By the time the fees and taxes were added it was $200 for 2 people non stop. That is a steal! I love Spirit! In DTW, they have a seperate line for security also. I don't care that they charge $10 for checked luggage, it's still worth it.

 

[TDC Nala]

The glad you live in DC! The airlines just don't want the politicians to know how bad they are S***wing the general public so they keep the fares for the politicians to go on vacation cheap!

And I am not even a politician, I'm just a bureaucrat.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Some people are still finding low airfares, such as those below $200 roundtrip from the East Coast or Midwest. But such fares are now much harder to find and require far more luck than in the past, when they were routinely available without much effort.

In the past people would see $250 fares and wait for the fare to go lower before buying. Today, that's a dangerous gamble. Sure the fare might go down. But it's much more likely to go up to $400, $600, or even $800 roundtrip.