Airlines to reduce number of seats

In Cleveland, total available seats will fall 13 percent.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Flights out of airports in Ohio are expected to decline in the by the end of the year, meaning travelers will find higher airfares and fewer available seats, analysts said.

Flight reductions associated with industry woes are planned for the last three months of 2008.

“If you’re thinking about [traveling at] Thanksgiving or Christmas, I’d book immediately,” said Tom Parsons, chief executive of airfare Web site BestFares.com. “Once a flight is 60 percent full, the airlines will start adding 5 to 10 percent to the ticket cost every week.”

Port Columbus International Airport is expecting to see a 23 percent decline in available seats, largely because of the demise of low-cost carrier Skybus Airlines, which shut down operations in April and filed for bankruptcy.

Taking Skybus out of the equation, the airport is looking at a 9.4 percent reduction in the number of available seats on outbound flights, said David Whitaker, vice president of business development for the airport. The reduction includes flights and routes that have been cut, as well as the effect of an airline substituting smaller aircraft for full-size jets.

Cincinnati and Cleveland also are being hit hard.

The number of seats out of Cincinnati’s airport is expected to fall more than 19 percent. In Cleveland, the total will fall 13 percent. Dayton is faring better, with a 2.4 percent reduction expected, although that airport could take a hit if low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines, which also filed for bankruptcy protection, doesn’t make it.

People typically have a hard time using frequent-flier miles at peak times around holidays, and that almost certainly will remain the case this year.

“The cuts happening after Labor Day this year are deeper than we usually see at this time,” said Robert Mann, a New York-based aviation consultant. “But I think it will also be accompanied by major ticket-price increases, which will probably impact the lowest fares more on a percentage basis. .... This could create more availability than expected, because the leisure traveler will just stay home.”

Randy Petersen, editor of InsideFlyer magazine and an expert on frequent-flier programs, agreed that it’s not all doom and gloom for those looking to use airline miles, though he expects it to get trickier this fall.

Petersen said that in tougher times, award redemption tends “to spread out to places you might not normally think — people’s hometowns instead of vacation destinations like Orlando and Hawaii.”

Airlines deserve some sympathy these days, Petersen said.

“The airlines have added fuel surcharges to award tickets, and in some cases have started charging even to book award travel online,” Petersen said. “But if it means we’ll be able to use our awards next year and the year after, I’m willing to put up with it. If the airline goes under, everyone loses.”