Currently, American Airlines operates 15 daily flights out of Cleveland Hopkins Airport, while US Airways operates 12 daily flights. American is the fourth-largest carrier at the airport, while US Airways is the fifth.
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American Airlines and US Airways jets prepare for flight at gate at the Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday. The merger of the two airlines has given birth to a mega airline with more passengers than any other in the world.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The merger of AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. will bump United Airlines out of the top spot and create the world's largest airline. But what will it mean for passengers in Northeast Ohio?
Not much, say representatives from Cleveland Hopkins International and Akron-Canton airports.
The merged American will operate more than 6,700 flights a day to 336 destinations in 56 countries, the two airlines announced today.
David J. Sangree, president of Hotel & Leisure Advisors in Lakewood, said: "The American and US Air merger won't be so good for the industry as it could cause airfares to increase," and reduce choices for consumers.
Yet, "I don't know that it's going to impact us too much because neither carrier has a whole lot of service from Cleveland."
Currently, American Airlines operates 15 daily flights out of Cleveland Hopkins, while US Airways operates 12 daily flights. American is the fourth-largest carrier at the airport, while US Airways is the fifth.
A combined American-US-Airways would be Cleveland Hopkin's second-largest carrier after United, operating 13.3 percent of the airport's total flights and seats.
"We do not anticipate that it would have significant impact on Cleveland Hopkins International Airport," Airport Director Ricky Smith said via email.
"At present the carriers operate more than 27 daily services to seven destinations. With one exception, the flights are spread between the carriers' hubs -- Chicago O'Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, Miami and New York Kennedy for American, and Charlotte and Philadelphia for US Airways. The one nonhub flight is American's four-times-daily service to New York LaGuardia.
"We are confident that each of these flights serves a valuable purpose in both carriers' networks. All seven of the destinations are in CLE's top 50 markets, including our number one market [Chicago O'Hare] and number three market [New York LaGuardia], and several -- notably including New York Kennedy and Miami -- are also leading connecting airports used by CLE passengers to access international flights. For these reasons, we see no reason to believe that a merged American/US Airways would significantly reduce its service at CLE."
US Airways is the third-largest carrier out of Akron-Canton Airport, with more than 266,000 passengers in 2012, said spokeswoman Kristie VanAuken. US Airways has five daily flights to Charlotte, N.C., three to Philadelphia and one to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C.
American doesn't fly out of Akron-Canton.
"We are optimistic about this merger," VanAuken said. "US Airways has been a strong CAK partner for more than 40 years. We think there could be additional opportunities and routes, under a merged airline scenario, that would benefit travelers in Northeast Ohio.
"Because the franchise has done well for such a long time, we are optimistic that CAK would see growth as a result of the merger. Of course, it is way too early to tell one way or the other."
What about my frequent-flier miles?
There won't be any immediate changes to American's AAdvantage program or US Airways' Dividend Miles, and passengers can continue to rack up and redeem rewards, the airlines said.
The two airlines together have a combined 101 million members, making it larger than United's 90 million members and Delta's 74 million, according to Bloomberg News.
Will the airlines cut routes?
They will probably cut flights on routes where both airlines fly to the same cities, but it's unclear what will happen to their networks in the long term.
Dan McKone, a partner at L.E.K. Consulting in Boston, told Bloomberg News that the combined airline will likely cut redundant flights as well as reduce capacity when they combine their schedules, because that gives them more power to raise fares for certain routes.
What will this do for airfares?
No one knows for sure, although Charlie Leocha of the Consumer Travel Alliance in Washington, D.C., points out that this merger will reduce the number of U.S. major airlines to four and reduce the competition that benefits consumers.
He said there are no discernible consumer benefits. "No new routes, no new competition, no savings that can be passed on to consumers," he said in a statement. "Even if there were significant savings created by synergies in this merger, they would be overwhelmed by the negative consequences of higher airfares and reduced competition."
Leocha said system integration problems plagued Delta/Northwest and Continental/United after they merged. "While the airline management rakes in merger bonuses, consumers are the ones who bear the brunt of post-merger integration service problems," he said. "With prior mergers, these issues have create major problems for passengers."
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