BIA losing flight to Cincinnati Carrier offers additional Boston run

BANGOR – The city’s airport is not immune to the cutbacks Delta Air Lines announced this week: The airline’s Comair subsidiary is preparing to cut its only remaining daily flight to Cincinnati while adding another daily trip to Boston.

Bangor International Airport Director Rebecca Hupp said Delta officials announced the elimination of the Cincinnati route Wednesday morning during a meeting with BIA officials. The Cincinnati service will end in late May or early June, and all Comair customers will either be reimbursed or rescheduled on a different route if they hold tickets beyond the end date, said Susan Elliott, a Delta spokeswoman.

Hupp said, “Certainly there is a demand for service [to Cincinnati]; the traffic and load factors are strong.” But “the concern is with the increasing cost of jet fuel, and [whether] the airline can increase ticket prices and fares to offset the costs, and if people will absorb the costs.”

Delta officials said that a fourth daily flight would be added to the Boston route. Elliott said the additional flight is scheduled to begin in late May or early June, but she was unsure if it would be a permanent or seasonal service.

Delta announced Tuesday a business plan that would offer about 30,000 employees voluntary severance payouts and cut its domestic capacity in total by nearly 10 percent. Company officials said rising fuel costs were eating into profits.

Travelers who used Cincinnati to fly west can still connect to the West Coast using Boston, Atlanta or New York, Elliott said.

Comair has offered Bangor-Cincinnati service for years.

When asked why the number of flights to Boston is being increased given the tight economic times, Elliott said, “We’ve been pleased by the [route’s] performance.”

Hupp said the airport is working with an airline to get once-a-week flight service to Washington, D.C., as part of BIA’s ongoing efforts to offer more service from Bangor.

“We continue to talk with all airlines about our viability of service,” Hupp said.

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