Independence Air is again reducing its daily departures from Columbia Metropolitan Airport.
The struggling airline will drop one flight to offer four daily to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., said Rick DeLisi, Independence Air spokesman.
The airline is consolidating flights in every market serviced by its 50-seat jets, DeLisi said.
"With the extraordinarily high price of fuel, we're in a position to do everything we can to reduce our fuel consumption and overall costs," DeLisi said.
The company reported in August it was paying an average of $1.75 per gallon in the second quarter of 2005, up 33.2 percent from the same period in 2004.
Independence Air is important to the Columbia airport because it forced other airlines to lower their fares to and from the city. Those lower fares increased passenger traffic at the airport.
As a result, the airport is expecting 2005 to be a record-breaking year.
Independence Air entered the Columbia market in June 2004 with seven daily departures to Dulles. By November, it had added two daily flights each to Orlando and Tampa, Fla.
Within months, however, Independence Air began scaling back its service. It dropped the Florida flights this spring and recently dipped to five daily flights to Dulles.
Independence Air has struggled financially since it became an independent, budget airline. Previously, it flew routes for United and Delta.
Part of the problem for all airlines, including Independence, has been figuring out the right ticket prices. If fares increase too much, airlines could lose passengers, but they need more revenue to compensate for increased fuel prices.
Independence Air commented on the problem in August when it logged a $98.5 million net loss for the second quarter ended June 30.
The airline also is trying to find the right schedules so that its airplanes are full. In the second quarter, about 73 percent of its seats were booked.
Independence Air had not informed Columbia Metropolitan Airport of its decision Monday, said Mike Flack, the airport?s executive director. However, he was not surprised by the news.
"It's not just Independence Air," Flack said. "All the airlines are in trouble right now because of the price of fuel."
Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307 or [email protected].
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