Oklahomans are going to find it more difficult to travel around the country because of flight cutbacks as airlines continue to deal with soaring fuel prices.
Several flight cancellations have been registered at Tulsa International Airport and Will Rogers World in Oklahoma City and more are expected as airlines refine their fall schedules.
Several flights have been canceled from Tulsa International to such destinations as Chicago, Denver, Cleveland and California, but some flights have been added, said airport spokeswoman Alexis Higgins.
She said AMR Corp.'s American Airlines has reduced its flights to Chicago, but added three flights on regional jets to Dallas. Southwest Airlines Co. also is adding a couple of flights to Denver.
"There is just a lot of uncertainty now for what really the long-term effect of the fuel prices will be and what the short-term solutions are to allow the airlines to stabilize financially," Higgins said.
"We still have fairly good air service, even with these cutbacks. We feel very fortunate because there are communities that are losing air service altogether."
Fewer flight cancellations were reported in Oklahoma City.
"Because of high fuel costs and a weakened economy, we had ExpressJet Holdings Inc. decide to pull out of service from Oklahoma City," said Mark Krankenburg, director of airports for Oklahoma City.
ExpressJet operated four nonstop flights to San Diego, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Albuquerque, N.M. Similar flights by ExpressJet no longer will be available in Tulsa.
Continental Airlines Inc. also has announced after Labor Day it will discontinue two flights each from Tulsa and Oklahoma City to Cleveland.
Krankenburg said he expects airlines to make more flight cuts in the near future.
Tulsa lost three flights to Denver as of June 1 because of Frontier Airlines filing for bankruptcy.
UAL Corp.'s United Airlines launched a nonstop flight from Tulsa to Los Angeles on June 5, but has decided to discontinue that flight in September.
Higgins said the cancellations will adversely affect revenue for airports, which charge a landing fee on each flight.
So far, the airline cutbacks have had little effect on the Lawton Municipal Airport, said Barbara McNally, airport manager. "So far there has been no change in our schedule," she said.
McNally said American Eagle has announced it is retiring two turboprop aircraft, but they will be replaced by larger planes in flights from Lawton.
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