US/Carribean: US airlines reduced Caribbean capacity by 10% in December
With portions of the Caribbean still struggling to recover from massive hits by hurricanes Irma and Maria in September, US-based airlines flew nearly 10% fewer seats to the region in December than they had a year earlier. Still, the factors that airlines consider when deciding how much to pare down service to islands and other locales that are reeling from national disasters go well beyond merely dollars-and-cents considerations, industry sources said. "From the standpoint of airlines, they take the long view," said aviation industry analyst Bob Mann of R.W. Mann & Co. "They have employees in the island. Those employees have families. The airlines have an infrastructure in the island. They have account relations in the island. You just wouldn't walk away from that. It's part of the social contract. It's not just wretched capitalism." According to the airline data analytics company OAG, the most-damaged Caribbean islands are all experiencing substantial drops in airlift this winter. Capacity to Puerto Rico was down 28.2% year over year in December. In the US Virgin Islands, it was down 47.2%. Dutch St. Maarten, where the airport has been forced to move into temporary facilities while the terminal is rebuilt, saw a decrease of 62.4%. Other affected destinations, including St. Barts, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis and the British Virgin Islands saw air service declines of between 11.6% and 32.8%.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2018-01-02/general/us-carribean-us-airlines-reduced-caribbean-capacity-by-10-in-december
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US/Carribean: US airlines reduced Caribbean capacity by 10% in December
With portions of the Caribbean still struggling to recover from massive hits by hurricanes Irma and Maria in September, US-based airlines flew nearly 10% fewer seats to the region in December than they had a year earlier. Still, the factors that airlines consider when deciding how much to pare down service to islands and other locales that are reeling from national disasters go well beyond merely dollars-and-cents considerations, industry sources said. "From the standpoint of airlines, they take the long view," said aviation industry analyst Bob Mann of R.W. Mann & Co. "They have employees in the island. Those employees have families. The airlines have an infrastructure in the island. They have account relations in the island. You just wouldn't walk away from that. It's part of the social contract. It's not just wretched capitalism." According to the airline data analytics company OAG, the most-damaged Caribbean islands are all experiencing substantial drops in airlift this winter. Capacity to Puerto Rico was down 28.2% year over year in December. In the US Virgin Islands, it was down 47.2%. Dutch St. Maarten, where the airport has been forced to move into temporary facilities while the terminal is rebuilt, saw a decrease of 62.4%. Other affected destinations, including St. Barts, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis and the British Virgin Islands saw air service declines of between 11.6% and 32.8%.<br/>
