Between 2002 and 2006, Air Canada, Delta, United and U.S. Airways all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Passengers bought tickets, planes took off, planes landed and each of the airlines emerged stronger and still doing business in the Harrisburg region.
HIA hopes for the same as American Airlines begins its journey through the bankruptcy court. Anyone scheduled to fly American out of HIA in the coming months should not be affected by the filing, airport spokesman Scott Miller said.
There are bigger long-term questions facing the airport:
Facing rising fuel costs, airlines are scrapping many routes flown by small jets, like those that account for more than half of HIA’s traffic. So far, HIA hasn’t been affected, but airlines are expected to continue cutting less profitable flights across the country.
Can the airport convince its airlines that the best way for everyone to make money is to land more and bigger planes along the Susquehanna?
HIA will need to, according to industry analysts. If not, the airport could be in the next wave of cutbacks as airlines try to save costs. “It’s vulnerable,” said Seth Kaplin, an analyst for Airline Weekly. “It’s a sizable market, but it’s not isolated. It’s not a place where people have to fly out of there or they can’t fly at all.” Why is all this happening now? Blame gas prices.
In the late '90s, when gas was less than a dollar a gallon, it made sense for airlines to buy or lease 50-seat jets to serve regional markets. They could make more money flying a full 50-person jet than a half-empty plane that carried three times that many. That model doesn’t work anymore.
Because a 50-seat plane still needs a lot of fuel, the airlines only reliably make money if they fill up the larger planes. That spelled the end of commercial service to places like St. Cloud, Minn., and Oxnard, Calif. Similar markets have fewer small planes going in and out. HIA insists it shouldn’t be lumped in with those cities.
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