More small airports are being cut off from the air travel network. This is why

Transcript

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

If you're flying this Labor Day weekend, you might need to drive further than you're used to to catch your flight. Airline service to smaller cities around the country is dwindling due to a shortage of pilots and changing airline economics. So what does this mean for the surrounding communities? NPR's Adam Bearne traveled to Williamsport, Pa., to find out.

(SOUNDBITE OF HELICOPTER FLYING)

ADAM BEARNE, BYLINE: A black helicopter takes off into the clear, blue skies above Williamsport Regional Airport.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLIDING DOORS)

BEARNE: Inside, the airport's executive director, Richard Howell, points out the beautiful, blue tiled floor.

RICHARD HOWELL: The colored floor is representative of the Susquehanna River going through the community. So it goes through the terminal. So it takes people from the airline ticket counter to TSA.

BEARNE: There's, like, a flow to it.

HOWELL: Yes. Yes, yes.

BEARNE: But there are no passengers flowing through here. Those airline ticket counters stand empty. And at TSA, there are no blue-shirted officers anywhere to be seen.

HOWELL: You get the behind the scenes here.

BEARNE: Yeah. It's not often that you get to just walk past TSA like that.

HOWELL: Yeah. It's kind of fun.

BEARNE: No need for security when there's no flight to catch. There hasn't been any commercial service at Williamsport since American Airlines left in 2021. While that's an extreme example, regional airports around the country are seeing legacy airlines pull out. Since the pandemic, American, Delta and United combined have left 74 of them, according to a study by aviation consulting firm Ailevon Pacific. That's due to a shortage of pilots to fly smaller jets and because it's harder to make money with those planes.

WILLIAM SWELBAR: The 50-seat jet today is just not economic as it was 10 years ago.

BEARNE: That's longtime industry analyst William Swelbar.

SWELBAR: Labor costs going up, fuel costs going up, maintenance costs going up. And it's hard for that airplane at that seat size to be profitable.

BEARNE: In a statement to NPR, American doesn't mention that as a factor for leaving regional markets, instead, saying it's due to the pilot shortage and that they have to factor in customer demand and what other airport's residents have access to. But the way airlines are taking off from small cities still frustrates Howell.

HOWELL: During COVID, the airlines took $55 billion worth of money from the government for a variety of loans and PPP and all the rest of it. As soon as COVID's gone, they start pulling out of markets like mine. I mean, they're literally abandoning rural America.

BEARNE: In one corner of the airport, the economic effect of that decision is already being felt.

JULIE JOHNSTON MCMANUS: We've lost all our walk-by traffic.

BEARNE: Julie Johnston McManus owns World Travel International, a travel agency based in the terminal.

MCMANUS: It's very sad to know that we can't help people that need immediate service to leave right from here or, like our older clients, having to pay a driver to get them to other airports because they're no longer able to make those drives.

BEARNE: One of her customers is Christina Ertel, who drops by to pay for a tour of the British Isles, but she can't get there from here.

CHRISTINA ERTEL: Normally when we traveled, we would probably fly out of Williamsport. At this point, we're flying out of Newark. So we'll have to make plans to stow a car or get transportation to Newark.

BEARNE: That's a three-hour drive. Starting a journey this way is becoming increasingly likely, says industry analyst Swelbar.

SWELBAR: The highway has become - and will become - the first access point to the air transportation grid, going forward. Not every community can support the trend toward larger airplanes.

BEARNE: And he believes other American cities are likely to suffer the same fate, especially east of the Mississippi.

SWELBAR: In the west, the distances are greater, the terrain is more difficult. People kind of need to fly. Whereas you look in the East, there's lots of airports that are located in that certain geography, and the highway system is terrific. That's why there will be more Williamsports.

(SOUNDBITE OF HORN HONKING)

BEARNE: Back in Williamsport, the downtown has the feel of a place making a comeback from hard times. But the head of the local chamber of commerce, Jason Fink, says the lack of airline service is holding the city back, despite it being home to the world's most famous youth baseball tournament.

JASON FINK: During the Little League World Series, we bring in site consultants, and they usually introduce companies to various communities, and we all work to try to get them to land their projects here. Last year was the first year that we did it post-COVID, and it was also the first time that we did it without an air service. And the No. 1 deficiency that was cited was inability to easily get here.

BEARNE: Out at the airport, Richard Howell is still confident that can change if he can get some help from Congress. He wants Williamsport to get back into a program called Essential Air Service, or EAS. It gives grants to airlines that fly to locations where it's tough to make money. Williamsport dropped out when Congress changed the rules in 2012, saying that airports who didn't use EAS funds the previous year were no longer eligible. Back then, Williamsport didn't need the money. It does now.

HOWELL: There's carriers out there that all they do is EAS because it's fully subsidized. They've got no risk. Even if I could just get back in the program for five or six years or something like that until we get past this pilot thing, just, you know, get me in the door, ultimately, we get back to where we were where there's no subsidy at all. The market sustains itself.

BEARNE: And Howell's warning other small cities to make sure they get funded, too.

HOWELL: Today it's Williamsport. We lost our air service. There's other communities in the area that have lost their air service. The planes keep getting bigger and bigger. So you out there with your 75-seat airplanes and things like that, you're next. And if we don't have some pieces in place that we get our elected officials to put there for us, then you're just going to be next on the list.

BEARNE: Out on the airfield, a lonely green tractor mows the grass, but then a plane can be spotted heading for the runway. It's a small, blue-and-white private aircraft, the kind you might use to learn how to fly. That's what this pilot seems to be doing - practicing landing...

(SOUNDBITE OF LANDING GEAR HITTING RUNWAY)

BEARNE: ...And taking off again.

(SOUNDBITE OF AIRPLANE ENGINE)

BEARNE: Plenty of time for training when you have the runway all to yourself.

Adam Bearne, NPR News in Williamsport, Pa.

(SOUNDBITE OF ADIE DERRICK SONG, "COME FLY WITH ME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.