American, JetBlue approved to temporarily stop Worcester airport flights
Photo | Grant Welker
A JetBlue airplane on the Worcester Regional Airport tarmac
JetBlue Airways and American Airlines are approved to suspend service to Worcester Regional Airport through the end of September in order to provide the airlines relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, which all but halted air travel, according to a filing from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
American Airlines confirmed on Wednesday it would accept the opportunity to suspend service to Worcester. JetBlue and Massport, which owns and operates Worcester airport, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday morning.
Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, JetBlue was offering nonstop service from Worcester to New York City, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Before the DOT ruling, JetBlue had stopped both its Florida flights while operating the NYC flight on limited capacity.
American was offering nonstop service to Philadelphia.
Their departure only leaves one airline and one direct flight operating out of Worcester: Delta Air Lines' nonstop service to Detroit.
The DOT’s order finalizes a tentative service suspension approval released on May 22. At the time, it was not clear whether American and JetBlue would be granted their requests in full.
"The Department recognizes the challenges faced by communities resulting from the loss of certain air services,” the DOT said in the filing. “However, the Department believes that the process we are finalizing here strikes an appropriate balance between the needs of communities to maintain at least minimal access to the national air transportation system during the public health emergency, and the needs of carriers to conserve financial resources to weather this time of unprecedented loss of demand.”
The filing noted airlines with approved service suspension points may resume or continue to provide service to those airports at any time, if they so choose, and particularly as the economy recovers.
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