Nashville, Knoxville airports could see city service reduction due to bailout

Some airlines in two major Tennessee cities are asking for exemptions to reduce or eliminate service — at least for a stint during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The airlines are among a list of those taking federal bailout money asking for exemptions from minimum service levels they are required to provide as a condition of their government-provided loans and grants.

Frontier has asked to temporarily stop its Knoxville service, while Sun Country wishes to suspend its Nashville service from April 20 to June 15. 

Airlines are known for adding or reducing levels of service and the cities to which they fly all the time, but now, because of the the federal stimulus package due to COVID-19, the government is involved in the decision-making.

Thus far, applications for exemptions have come from a variety of carriers, from majors like American and Delta to a bevy of no-frills discounters, like Frontier, Sun Country and Allegiant. It will be up to the Department of Transportation to decide which exemptions to grant.

Airlines, however, say even that amount of reduced flying will still result in such steep losses that it runs against their goal of trying to preserve cash until the economy rebounds.

What destinations are going to be cut?

The list of destinations that airlines want to drop runs the gamut from big cities to small, though it's the small ones, especially in remote communities, that could see the biggest impact.

Among the cities that Sun Country, the Minneapolis-based discounter, wants to officially boot are three it stopped flying to last year — Gulfport, Mississippi, Santa Barbara, California, and Sonoma County, California.

Based on the pandemic and actions taken to limit the spread of coronavirus, "coupled with the resulting economic crisis, Sun Country’s flights to the destinations covered by this exemption request have forecast extremely low load factors for the coming months, with most in the single digits or low teens," the airline said in the filing Tuesday.

In the city of Sonoma, Mayor Logan Harvey told USA TODAY the loss of any airline is painful, given how the local economy in the heart of California's wine country is dependent on tourism during normal times. He said he's also worried that other airlines might also be compelled to cut service when they see Sun Country's move.

"When one pulls out, the others see that decision," Harvey said. "It's not unconcerning."

But given the current pandemic, another mayor in Hawaii welcomes the service cutback as helping in the effort to quell the spread of the coronavirus.

Michael Victorino, mayor of Maui County, Hawaii, wrote the Department of Transportation in support of Hawaiian Airlines' request to suspend service to Kapalua Airport near Lahaina, a secondary airport serving Maui and two neighboring islands.

"My primary goal is protecting the health and safety of the citizens of the three islands," Victorino wrote. "That means limiting the number of visitors to Hawaii until the health threat has passed and the restrictions placed on Hawaiian Airlines have been lifted."

Among the cities where airlines are asking for exemptions to reduce or eliminate service, at least temporarily: 

American

American is asking for latitude in providing seasonal service to Anchorage, Alaska; Kalispell, Montana; Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. It wants to stop service to ski destinations, Vail, Aspen and Montrose, Colorado; and Kahului, Kona, and Lihue, Hawaii.

Delta

Delta asks for flexibility in the dates of its seasonal service to Cody, Wyoming; Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan, Alaska; Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts; West Yellowstone, Montana; and Charlotte Amalie and Christiansted, Virgin Islands.

United

United wants to stop flying to Green Bay, Wisconsin; Gunnison, Colorado; Ithaca, New York; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Valparaiso. Florida; and Santa Fe, New Mexico, saying it will reconsider a July 6 resumption of service. United is also asking for suspension of service to Hilo, Kona, Lihue, and Kahului, Hawaii, for the duration of the order, and to San Juan, Puerto Rico, until May 6 and to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands until July 6. It is also requesting postponement of the start seasonal service to Fairbanks, Alaska; Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Sun Valley, Idaho, until July 6.   

JetBlue

JetBlue asks to temporarily stop flying to Baltimore; San Jose, Burbank and Ontario, California; Providence, Rhode Island; and LaGuardia, Stewart and Westchester County airports in New York. In addition, JetBlue wants to halt service through June 10 to Albuquerque, New Mexico; Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; Bozeman, Montana; Dallas/Fort Worth; Houston George Bush Intercontinental; and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Alaska

Alaska wants an exemption for Kona, Lihue and Kahului, Hawaii; and Sun Valley, Idaho, because continued service “is not reasonable or practicable."

Allegiant

Allegiant has a long list of cities that it says it can no longer afford to serve regularly, It wants to stop flying to Alburquerque, New Mexico; Bellingham, Washington; El Paso, Texas; McAllen, Texas; Ogden, Utah and Palm Springs, California, through June 30.  In addition, it requests a halt to flights to Clarksburg, West Virginia; Dayton, Ohio; Grand Forks, North Dakota; Little Rock, Arkansas; Moline and Springfield, Illinois; Montrose, Colorado; Ogdensburg, New York; Owensboro, Kentucky; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Rochester, New York; St. Cloud, Minnesota; San Antonio; San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Tucson, Arizona, through Sept. 30.

Sun Country

Sun Country is asking to suspend service from April 20 to June 15 to cities including Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego, California; Chicago; Newark, New Jersey; Denver; Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Boston; San Antonio; Seattle; Honolulu; Philadelphia; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Washington, D.C.; St. Louis: Madison, Wisconsin and Anchorage, Alaska.

Frontier

Through June 10, Frontier wants to temporarily stop serving Albany, Syracuse and Buffalo, New York; Billings and Bozeman, Montana; Bloomington, Illinois; Burlington, Vermont; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Detroit; El Paso, Tyler and Harlingen, Texas; Fargo, N.D.; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Spokane, Washington; Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina; Huntsville, Alabama; Wichita, Kansas; Jacksonville and West Palm Beach, Florida; Norfolk, Virginia; Pittsburgh; Palm Springs, California; Portland, Maine; Louisville, Kentucky; and Knoxville, Tennessee. 

Spirit

Spirit, another discounter, said in their filing that "continued service to the following cities is not "reasonable or practical" during the crisis: Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; Asheville, North Carolina; Austin, Texas; Charleston, West Virginia; Charlotte Amalie and Christiansted, Virgin Islands; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Greensboro, North Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; Indianapolis, Indiana; Jacksonville, Florida; Pittsburgh and Latrobe, Pennsylvania; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; New York City; Niagara Falls, New York; Portland, Oregon; Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh/Durham; Sacramento and San Francisco, California.

Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at nalund@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.