https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/airlines-cut-flights-out-of-pittsburgh-international-airport-as-coronavirus-spreads/
Airlines cut flights out of Pittsburgh International Airport as coronavirus spreads
Airlines are cutting flights out of Pittsburgh International Airport in response to the spreading coronavirus, airport officials said Tuesday.
Delta has decided to cut 1% of its capacity at Pittsburgh International, trimming flights to Atlanta starting in April, according to a report in BlueSky, the airport’s news outlet.
American Airlines will end its flights to Sky Harbor in Phoenix on June 4, and it will reduce flights to Chicago-O’Hare and Philadelphia. American will also go from four flights a day from PIT to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to one per day, according to BlueSky.
United Airlines officials said Sunday they will cut its capacity by 50% in April and May, including 13% in Pittsburgh. That will include reducing the number of daily flights to Chicago-O’Hare, Newark Liberty, Washington-Dulles and San Francisco.
Southwest has not yet announced schedule cuts, and Allegiant has reduced only flights to Punta Gorda, Fla., daily. Spirit Airlines will cut two flights weekly from Pittsburgh to Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando.
The airport reported that JetBlue will cut some flights to Boston. Air Canada has not announced any widespread changes.
Allegheny County Airport Authority officials have been anticipating the cuts and preparing for them.
“As global pandemics can create shockwaves throughout the aviation and travel industry, we have been tracking the response by airlines, cargo carriers, and passengers since very early this year,” said Bryan Dietz, vice president of Air Service Development. “We know more schedule reductions will be coming as we are expecting demand levels lower than the post-Sept. 11, 2001, period.”
In a letter posted to BlueSky, airport authority CEO Christina Cassotis said the airport is ready for emergencies.
“We’ve taken our pandemic crisis plan and quickly adapted it for coronavirus,” she wrote. “We are focused on keeping our facilities not just operational, but safe.”
She reiterated all of the new cleaning efforts and pledged to keep the airport running smoothly to serve those who are traveling.
“By keeping our operations running smoothly, we will be in a position to rebound along with our airline partners,” Cassotis wrote. “This crisis will pass and we’ll be ready for when travel comes back. And it will come back.”
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