Airlines receiving government funds through the recent, pandemic-fueled CARES Act were required to continue flying to cities they previously serviced.
No more. As the travel site One Mile at a Time notes, airlines were able to apply for exemptions from the Department of Transportation, and those have now been approved.
There were rules: The drop of service was limited to five airports per airline or five percent of their service, each affected market still had to have at least one airline available and these new exemptions run through September 20, when it actually could get worse for travelers. That’s when the CARES Act runs out.
The full list of U.S. airlines and the cities they are no longer flying to is available here. It’s a lot of second-tier markets, though for now you won’t be able to take Alaska Airlines to New Orleans or Delta to Aspen (Delta is dropping the most at 11 cities, tied with United). Speaking of Aspen, American’s 29-mile flight between Vail and Aspen is also gone.
One airline not requesting exemptions? Southwest.
Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
