[ CONSOLIDATION TAKING TOLL ]
Small airports
seeing big cuts
in connectivity

See AIRPORTS on Page 38

By Robert Silk

LAS VEGAS — Concern about reductions in air service to many midsize- and small-market U.S.

airports emerged as a major theme at the Routes Americas conference here earlier this month, where delegates from 100 airlines and 260 airports gathered to explore potential new flight offerings.

“We’ve got to find a way to solve that problem,” Erik Hansen, vice president of government relations for the U.S. Travel Association, said on a panel at the conference.

According to U.S. Travel, 60% of U.S.

airports have lost connectivity over the last decade. In addition, two-thirds of U.S. states have seen a decline in air service quality and convenience since 2007, meaning they are seeing fewer flights and routes.

The reductions have come as consolidation has reduced the number of major U.S.

airlines from 11 to four since 2004. As they consolidated, airlines concentrated their operations at fewer hubs, leaving former hub cities such as Memphis, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., with empty gates.

Meanwhile, the pilot shortage plaguing

Hotels finding fitness areas get scant use

See WORKOUT on Page 40

By Danny King

New research shows that while hotels continue to invest money in fitness space and equipment, fewer guests are spending the time to use it.

According to a study on hotel-amenity us-
age published by the Cornell Center for Hos-
pitality Research earlier this month, while
almost half of U.S. travelers visit hotels with
the expectation of using on-site gym equip-
ment, just 22% end up doing so.

What’s more, it seems that the wealthier the guest, the less likely he or she is to go to the hotel gym; fewer than 40% of the people who said they would use a luxury hotel’s fitness center actually made good on those plans.

The study cited data from 33 hotels across
six brands that are part of an unidentified
“global company that operates midscale, up-
scale and luxury brands.”
“When people budget their time when
they travel, the fitness center tends to be
one of the first activities to go,” said Cheki-
tan Dev, associate professor at Cornell’s SC
Johnson College of Business and one of the
report’s authors. He added that as the overall
quality of fitness equipment rises, “now, fa-
cilities in the home are nicer, and hotels are
playing catch-up.”
As a result, when it comes to capital

‘I don’t think the answer is root-
ed in regulation. Airlines will fly
where they will make money.’
— John Slattery, Embraer CEO
Kurt Weinsheimer
Sojern’s data suggests that bookings for spring
break are off to a decent start for 2017. 12