EAST HAVEN, CT — American Airlines has pulled out of Tweed New Haven Airport, meaning the airport will have no commercial flights in October.
Though American Airlines has serviced Tweed for decades, it flew from East Haven to Philadelphia for the last time on Thursday, the Hartford Courant reported.
Tweed Executive Director Sean Scanlon told the newspaper that the decision was made relatively recently, though discussions about the future of the flight have been ongoing since the summer.
American Airlines officials told Scanlon that their choice to pull out was due to “an equipment and pilot shortage” and was not a reflection of Tweed, according to the Courant.
However, Scanlon told WTNH he is confident the airline will return “in the near future.”
“Maybe even before we get a new runway, but definitely after we get a new runway because that has always been the key for so many airlines,” Scanlon told the news station. “I think once we’re able to lengthen that runway just a bit, we will see a lot more service here in New Haven.”
Plans for the lengthened runway are part of the $100 million Tweed expansion announced earlier this year.
That expansion involves Avelo Airlines, which is set to begin offering nonstop flights from Tweed to several Florida airports — including Orlando, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa — on Nov. 3.
Avelo is advertising one-way flights beginning at $59. Their flights have been “booking up very quickly,” Scanlon told WTNH.