Jul 23, 2008 8:55 am US/Pacific
UA To Cut 20 Percent Of Flights To, From LAX
JetBlue To Stop Service At Ontario Airport
LOS ANGELES
Southern California airports face the prospect of declining revenue, following the announcement that two major airlines will cut service at Los Angeles International and Ontario airports this fall.
United Airlines, the second-busiest carrier at LAX, announced Tuesday it will slash about 20 percent of its Southern California schedule, or about 40 flights a day, including nonstop service to Frankfurt and Hong Kong.
JetBlue Airways also announced that it will pull out of Ontario, where it began its West Coast expansion in 2000, after Labor Day.
Earlier this month, ExpressJet announced it would stop all service at Ontario on Sept. 2, eliminating 15 nonstop flights to such destinations as Austin, Texas, and Tulsa, Okla.
In all, Ontario airport is expected to lose 37 percent of its flights in the fall, making the airport one of the nation's hardest hit by an industry-wide rush to cut flights amid soaring fuel costs, the Los Angeles Times reported.
With the service cutbacks, area travelers can expect higher fares, more stopovers and driving farther to catch flights that may no longer be available at a nearby airport, The Times reported.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
