AirTran to Discontinue Flights

[Checkers]

In our local newspaper today there is notice that AirTran will discontinue nonstop flights effective August 12 out of Harrisburg & Allentown, PA, as well as Lexington, Ky, Sarasota, Fl, Huntsville, Al, and White Plains, NY.

This is very disappointing for us as we will have to drive to BWI or Phila. to get a nonstop flight. The article did say HIA is attempting to get another carrier to pick up these flights to Orlando since it was the airport's most popular flight. Guess that didn't matter much to Southwest.

[faline]

I'm sure more changes will occur as they complete their merger.

[hannahandkalebmom]

This makes me very sad too. We love leaving from Harrisburg its quick to get through security and its only 1 1/2 hours from our house. Bummer

[kaylamag]

We only used Airtran because of the direct flight, it was really nice not having any layovers!

[sgdisney]

They are pulling out of Charleston WV too. Even though they only had flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays they were our only direct flight option to MCO. I hate to lose them and hope an alternate carrier comes in with a direct flight.

[Pastcastmemberdaughter]

They pulled out of Hagerstown, MD Airport last year. Kinda disappointing. Do they anything left out of the Northeast? Geez it sounds like no.....

[MrPeetrie]

Air travel options in general are becoming so limited and expensive.

My wife and I started flying to Disney back in '99. USAir had a hub in Pittsburgh and there was a non-stop flight to Orlando departing every hour in the mornings. Round-trip tickets cost around $150 apiece.

In October 2011, there were only two flights traveling to Orlando non-stop. We used Airtran over Southwest. Three tickets cost $776. Then, they charged us $36 just to have assigned seats. (Our DD was 8. She was afraid she might not sit next to us.).

For a 10-night stay, we checked five pieces of luggage instead of the alloted three. We were charged extra for the luggage in both Pittsburgh and Orlando. One piece was 1/2" too large. When I got home and reviewed our statement, there was one more charge added. Grand total for air flight: just under $1,000 for three tickets. Wow!!!

[Ed]

MCO airport announced a few days ago that Frontier Airlines will be adding new nonstop service between MCO and Allentown, PA and Harrisburg, PA on May 24th and 26th respectively.

Sounds like they're picking up where AirTran left off.

I've flown Frontier before between MCO and DEN; decent prices, good service, pretty nice aircraft.

[PopPhan]

Thanks, Ed! I just saw this on the local news last night - Frontier picking up the AirTran flight out of Harrisburg, PA (MDT)

I generally fly SouthWest out of Baltimore, MD (BWI), but this may get me to rethink my options...If Frontier is cheaper, or as cheaper, and still flies non-stop to MCO, that is.

[Wolf]

This breaks my heart...I Delta and outa HSV thats about our only option to get to MCO... *pout*

[Checkers]

Thanks, Ed! I just saw this on the local news last night - Frontier picking up the AirTran flight out of Harrisburg, PA (MDT)

I generally fly SouthWest out of Baltimore, MD (BWI), but this may get me to rethink my options...If Frontier is cheaper, or as cheaper, and still flies non-stop to MCO, that is.

Just booked our flights today out of Harrisburg on Frontier for our Oct. vacation. The booking window is open to early Nov. Thought the rates were reasonable, too.

[Meg's Mom]

FYI I needed to purchase another plane ticket for a friend of my daughters who decided to vacation with us. The Frontier Airline site said the flight wasn't available. I even called them. They said the flights were fully booked! I was in a panic! How can an almost empty plane fill up in a week? I went to Expedia and half the plane was available?? So check other sites if it isn't available on the official site. Also I paid the same price for her ticket that I did for ours.

[Ed]

FYI I needed to purchase another plane ticket for a friend of my daughters who decided to vacation with us. The Frontier Airline site said the flight wasn't available. I even called them. They said the flights were fully booked! I was in a panic! How can an almost empty plane fill up in a week? I went to Expedia and half the plane was available?? So check other sites if it isn't available on the official site. Also I paid the same price for her ticket that I did for ours.

Remember that the planes only hold roughly 150 passengers, depending on the model. They can fill up very quickly if there's lots of demand. Don't be very surprised if, when you get to the airport, you find that the flight has been overbooked and they're asking for volunteers or involuntarily bumping people.

[AmandaChan]

I swear flying anymore is getting to the point of not much of an option. Having kids now, I don't think I ever want to take a flight that isn't non stop ever again. I think for our next trip, we may drive. Airlines keep making it more and more difficult to go with their service.

[DizneyRox]

Yes, businesses these days don't seem to get what customers want. They only care about optimizing profits.

The need to optimize profits providing customers what they want.

I'll pay more for a non stop flight. The problem is, they re becoming more and more rare. Once they stop, I'll start looking elsewhere...

[Disney-4-Me]

Welcome to our world! We usually fly AirTran back to St. Louis from MCO just because there is a later flight than anyone else, but we hate that layover on the way home!