American Airlines has decided to suspend its new daily nonstop flights from Tucson to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport from May through mid-December, citing lower than expected demand for the flight.
Passenger loads on the JFK flights that began at Tucson International Airport in October are growing, but that growth has been slower than expected, according to American Airlines and the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, which organized a fund to guarantee minimum revenue from the route.
The current plan is for the last flights to operate May 4, and then service will resume on Dec. 15 and 16, according to information from American Airlines and the chamber released by the Tucson Airport Authority.
Customers who have already bought tickets on the JFK route for travel during the suspension period will be contacted by American to make alternative travel arrangements, or to offer a full refund.
American Airlines was willing to continue the flight through the summer but that may have jeopardized the availability of the flight over the holidays and high winter season next year, the chamber said.
The Tucson Airport Authority was told last week that the flight wasn’t meeting expectations and American was mulling suspension for the summer.
At last week’s airport authority meeting, board member Bill Assenmacher said American was reluctant to operate the flight at below minimum capacity over the summer, because it would likely drain much of the $1 million in funding local businesses have pledged to guarantee American’s revenue on the JFK flights.
Assenmacher, who also chairs the Tucson Metro Chamber’s air-service task force, said revenue per passenger is down on the Tucson-JFK route largely because American has faced stiff price competition from other carriers' one-stop flights to New York.
That has prevented American from collecting an expected premium on its five-hour, nonstop route, for which paid fares have averaged about $350 roundtrip.
A decision on suspending the flights for the summer had to be made now because airlines have to plan their schedules far in advance, according to American and the Tucson chamber.
A nonstop flight from Tucson to New York can be booked now for December travel.
American was courted for the Tucson-JFK nonstops based on the airport’s experience with New York nonstops in 2007 and 2008 and projections of how many passengers using connecting flights or the Phoenix airport would switch to the American nonstop.
Though detailed reports are not yet available, initial data suggest the flights have done well in attracting passengers who would have taken connecting flights to JFK or LaGuardia Airport, while data on passengers using Newark is inconclusive, officials said.
There is no data yet on how many people who have typically flown to New York out of Phoenix began using American’s flight to JFK, or whether it stimulated new passenger traffic.
