Airports worried about service cuts

WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- U.S. airport managers are warning that plans by airlines to drastically reduce service this fall will blow a hole in the nation's "hub-and-spoke" system.

Airlines have said they will institute cuts that could amount to a 10 percent to 20 percent loss in service by the end of the year, coming on top of announced cuts of 30,000 employees. Despite that, the industry could still sustain losses of $7 billion to $13 billion, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

Those numbers have alarmed airport managers, who say that 100 cities could lose all commercial air service this year and that as many as 200 could lose service next year.

Among the cities that have already lost air service are Hot Springs, Ark., Athens, Ga., Trenton, N.J., Santa Fe, N.M. and Youngstown, Ohio. The newspaper said that to cope, airport directors are halting expansion projects and putting a freeze on hiring.

As an example, Asheville, N.C., airport director David Edwards told the Post he expects a 10 percent to 15 percent drop in passenger traffic this year, to about 250,000 passengers, and even though Asheville has escaped deep service cuts, high ticket prices prompted by soaring fuel costs are taking a toll.