United Airlines dropping Elmira, N.Y., from its route map
United Airlines is pulling out of the Elmira Corning Regional Airport in western New York. The carrier’s last flight there will be April 4.
"I was obviously very disappointed. The airport is a major asset to the region," Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli tells the Star-Gazette of Elmira. "We're always trying to advance service opportunities. (United) did a trial run to see what the service would be. Their load factor was only in the 40% range.”
The Elmira Corning airport is about 20 miles north of New York’s border with Pennsylvania, sitting near a part of the Keystone State that has prospered financially in recent years from natural gas production around the Marcellus Shale formation. But that momentum has slowed during the past year amid a global decline in fuel prices.
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“When United came, they believed the natural gas industry was hot in northern Pennsylvania,” Santulli says to the Star-Gazette. “They saw that as a great opportunity. Obviously that didn't pan out. They didn't do as much corporate business as they thought."
United first began flying from Elmira-Corning in 2014, with the Star-Gazette saying the carrier “landed in the … area two years ago with high expectations.” United had offered up to two daily United Express round-trip flights to its hub at Chicago O’Hare. The current service is on Embraer RJ145 regional jets.
United first revealed plans for the Elmira route in September 2013, detailing the flights as part of an announcement for three new destinations that also included State College, Pa., and Topeka, Kansas. Once the Elmira flights end, only State College will remain. The Topeka flights ended just nine months after they began.
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In Elmira, airport manager Ann Crook tells the Star-Gazette she expects passenger traffic there to remain stable even without United.
"I don't think we'll lose passengers at the airport,” she says. “I think people who were flying with United will pick up another carrier. I think it's an opportunity for the other airlines.”
“So even though we got some bad news, another airline is on the verge of making a major announcement,” she adds without additional detail.
Meanwhile, United is cutting at least one other route to a small market because of sinking fuel prices. The airline will fly its last flight between Houston and Bakersfield, Calif., on April 4.
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"It's hugely disappointing,” airport chief Richard Strickland says to The Bakersfield California. “Apparently the corporate energy market just doesn't support the flight right now.“
United confirmed that as the reason.
“We continually review supply and demand for service in all of our markets and we made the difficult decision to end service between Houston and Bakersfield due to the significant decline in demand for oil/energy sector related travel," United spokesman Jonathan Guerin adds to KERO TV of Bakersfield.
Unlike Elmira, however, United will continue to fly to Bakersfield. United also flies from the city to its hubs in Denver and San Francisco.