AirTran Airways will cease its operations in June 2012 at the following airports: Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS), Miami International (MIA), Central Illinois Regional Airport/Bloomington/Normal, Ill. (BMI), Charleston’s Yeager Airport in West Virginia (CRW), and Dulles International (IAD). The Southwest Airlines operations at IAD will continue unaffected.
AirTran Airways says it can no longer support service to these particular markets in light of the realities of the challenging economic environment and sustained high fuel prices. The airline has a keen focus on aligning its service with Customer demand and making capacity available for future opportunities without growing the current fleet. AirTran’s existing flight schedules are currently open through June 2, 2012. Today’s announcement will be incorporated into AirTran’s flight schedule extension to be published on Nov. 13, 2011.
AirTran’s 19 Employees currently serve BMI with three daily nonstop flights and its 17 IAD Employees support three daily departures. Its CRW (three weekly departures), MIA (one daily nonstop), and TYS (one daily nonstop flight) service are all supported by AirTran’s contracted Vendor Partners.
The Company’s priority is to take excellent care of its dedicated Employees, Partners, and Customers in these markets. AirTran Employees at these locations have performed superbly and will have the opportunity to move elsewhere within AirTran, after operations cease next year.
AirTran Airways will continue to operate at Miami, Knoxville, Dulles, Bloomington/Normal, and Charleston airports until June 3, 2012. Ticketed passengers, passengers holding reservations, or passengers desiring to make reservations for flights to or from these airports have no need to alter their travel plans prior to June 3, 2012.
