Plans for holiday travel? Book quickly — these airlines are cutting flights in Boise
Several airlines are cutting flights in and out of the Boise Airport just ahead of the busy holiday travel season.
Next week, United Airlines will begin to eliminate a quarter of its flight schedule at the regional air hub. Direct flights to Denver and San Francisco will be the first to come off United’s schedule.
The airline currently operates eight nonstop flights per day between Boise and the two Western U.S. hubs. But starting Sunday, United will cut each route down to three per day for the next four months.
On Nov. 30, United’s flight between Boise and Chicago will follow and drop from twice to once daily. The airline is not scheduled to restore the extra flight for the three routes until March 3.
Fewer flights during the holidays through some of the nation’s largest connector airports means procrastinators who still plan to fly may want to book sooner than later. Either that, or be stuck with higher prices, layovers and less desirable flight times.
“We regularly adjust our schedule for a variety of reasons, including demand and the broader needs of our network,” United spokesperson Christine Salamone told the Idaho Statesman by email Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the airline confirmed to Business Insider that it would scrap a dozen flights from several of its hubs, including out of Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, during an ongoing national pilot shortage. No Boise routes were named in that report.
Compared to this same time last year, the total number of available seats on departing flights in Boise this holiday season is expected to be up 17% for November and up 28% for December, airport spokesperson Shawna Samuelson told the Statesman by email. “However, airlines always have the ability to adjust their schedules,” she said.
United also joins other airlines in limiting their number of nonstop routes between Boise and several destinations for the upcoming holidays. The year-end holidays typically approach nationwide peak travel periods, according to historical Transportation Security Administration passenger counts.
American Airlines, which operates two year-round routes and a summer seasonal flight in Boise, also will offer fewer nonstop options over the holidays, compared to its usual twice-daily schedule. In most cases, according to the airline’s online booking schedule, just one nonstop flight to and from Phoenix, and American’s headquarters in Dallas/Fort Worth, will arrive and depart on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.
On Thanksgiving, United will offer just one nonstop flight between Boise and its largest hub at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, as well as Denver International Airport. Two flights are scheduled that day between Boise and San Francisco, United’s booking website showed.
Mike Boyd, president of Colorado-based aviation consulting firm Boyd Group International, attributes the decision by airlines to drop holiday flights to economic trends amid historic inflation. Leisure trips, including to see family out of state for the holidays, may not be in the budget for many this year, he told the Statesman by phone.
“Discretionary and impulse traffic is going to be affected,” Boyd said. “It would ultimately make sense to me that United, American, Delta are seeing softer growth in bookings and adjusting capacity accordingly.”
Other airlines expand flights
Counter to some of the industry heavyweights, low-cost air carriers Allegiant Air and Avelo Airlines will offer more flights through Boise around the holidays.
Allegiant, based outside of Las Vegas, is scheduled to make extra trips from late November to early January, along its three routes in Boise, to Las Vegas, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway and Orange County, California.
Avelo, which launched service in May at the Boise Airport, is adding a third weekly flight to and from Southern California’s Hollywood Burbank Airport. The extra nonstop trip starts next week and runs through the winter holidays and again in the spring.
“We know a lot of Idahoans have either relocated, have family and friends still in Southern California or just want a warm holiday so we’ve adjusted our schedule accordingly,” Avelo spokesperson Courtney Goff previously told the Statesman.
To accommodate greater holiday travel demand, Delta Air Lines next month will temporarily add another daily nonstop flight between Boise and Los Angeles, before and after Thanksgiving. The addition will bring the Atlanta-based air carrier up to two nonstop flights to and from the popular West Coast destination each day, between Nov. 9 and Nov. 28.
Delta, however, will reduce the number of nonstop runs it makes between Boise and Salt Lake City, from five per day to as few as two over several of the upcoming holidays into the new year. The airline’s twice-daily nonstop route to Minneapolis-St. Paul will be halved for Thanksgiving, but not for any other holidays, Delta’s booking website showed.
Delta’s four nonstop flights every day between Boise and Seattle won’t be affected by the holidays, nor will its daily flight to and from Atlanta — the Boise Airport’s longest route, and also its farthest east. Based on the route’s popularity during the summer, Delta added a second daily flight in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but will discontinue it after Nov. 27.
Alaska Airlines, the Boise Airport’s primary air carrier, ended its daily service to and from Austin earlier this month, as previously reported by the Statesman. But the Seattle-based airline will next month briefly restore nonstop service for about a week around — but not on — Thanksgiving, and then for three weeks between mid-December and early January surrounding the Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays. The last direct flight between Austin and Boise is scheduled for Jan. 8.
Alaska will then reintroduce its daily route to Austin on a seasonal basis starting April 18. That will operate every day through at least Sept. 21, which is the end of the airline’s current booking calendar available online.
The day after Thanksgiving, Alaska also is set to relaunch its winter seasonal flight between Boise and Palm Springs, California. The route is scheduled to operate three times a week through April 17, Alaska’s online booking schedule showed.
The Boise Airport has recorded seven consecutive months of all-time highs for passenger counts, from March through September. Last month, more than 403,500 travelers passed through the airport, up 17% from its prior monthly record for September from 2019. The airport remains well on pace to break its previous annual record of more than 4.1 million passengers, also set in 2019.
This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 11:30 AM.
