US: Air service was deeply cut, but not to places like Lake Placid
As commercial air travel plummeted in recent months amid pandemic lockdowns and closings, the few people who did venture forth faced delays, cancellations and confusing social distancing messages. But some travellers have had far fewer disruptions. They were flying on regional carriers to small airports in far-flung places like the Alaskan fishing village Cordova and tourist destinations like Bar Harbor, Me., and Greenbrier, W.Va. Those communities are among about 170 nationwide that qualify for subsidies and service through the US DoT's essential air service. The pandemic has been especially cruel to the airline industry. The major commercial carriers started cutting service in mid-March in the face of a steep decline in bookings — curtailing their level of service by as much as 90 percent at one point. But essential air service communities didn’t begin to see cuts until late April, when the DoT said service could be reduced by as much as 50 percent as long as carriers maintain one flight a day, six days a week. Even then, some communities didn’t see that much of a drop. Story has more.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-06-16/general/us-air-service-was-deeply-cut-but-not-to-places-like-lake-placid
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US: Air service was deeply cut, but not to places like Lake Placid
As commercial air travel plummeted in recent months amid pandemic lockdowns and closings, the few people who did venture forth faced delays, cancellations and confusing social distancing messages. But some travellers have had far fewer disruptions. They were flying on regional carriers to small airports in far-flung places like the Alaskan fishing village Cordova and tourist destinations like Bar Harbor, Me., and Greenbrier, W.Va. Those communities are among about 170 nationwide that qualify for subsidies and service through the US DoT's essential air service. The pandemic has been especially cruel to the airline industry. The major commercial carriers started cutting service in mid-March in the face of a steep decline in bookings — curtailing their level of service by as much as 90 percent at one point. But essential air service communities didn’t begin to see cuts until late April, when the DoT said service could be reduced by as much as 50 percent as long as carriers maintain one flight a day, six days a week. Even then, some communities didn’t see that much of a drop. Story has more.<br/>
