U.S. Airways Cancels Last Flight to Little Rock

U.S. Airways Express announced it will cut its round-trip flight from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to Little Rock. The airline will stop flying that route in November.

As a result, there will no longer be commercial air service between Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock.

Scott Van Laningham, executive director of XNA, said passenger numbers for that flight had been dropping steadily since Interstate 540 opened in late 1999, and new FAA regulations requiring passengers to be at airports two hours before take off made flying to Little Rock somewhat impractical.

Van Laningham said U.S. Airways had already stopped its route most preferred by business people: a flight to Little Rock in the morning with a return flight that afternoon. Instead, U.S. Airways’ schedule required travelers to spend a night in Little Rock before returning to XNA.

U.S. Airways is the third airline to permanently cancel flights at XNA since the Sept. 11 terrorism.

American Eagle, the local carrier for American Airlines, canceled two of its 11 round-trip flights from XNA to Dallas a week after terrorists crashed American Airlines jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Two United Airlines jetliners were also used in the attacks, crashing into the other World Trade Center tower and in rural Pennsylvania.

Northwest Airlines canceled one round-trip flight from XNA to Memphis.

U.S. Airways will continue to fly from XNA to its hubs in Kansas City and Charlotte, N.C.

Although there are no longer commercial flights to Little Rock, Springdale Air Service still offers chartered flights to the state’s capital city.