Monday is a big day for the United Airlines hub in Cleveland. According to an agreement signed in 2010 with the State Attorney General, United can begin decreasing its service. In 2015, it can pull the hub. These moves may impact the price you pay for airfare, and it may cost the area $4 billion in business.
Developers are rolling the dice on Cleveland gambling $9 billion on its comeback. They’re building a new casino, office and entertainment complex in the Flats, and a new convention center.
Groups are already booking events and leasing building space, but how easy will it be for these tourists and businesses to get to Cleveland?
“We need to do more to keep business travelers coming in here,” said business traveler Marcus Linde, who spends a lot of time at Cleveland Hopkins traveling for business. It’s a convenient airport to travel through, but Linde is concerned about the noticeable cutbacks.
“It’s changed over the last few years. They used to have direct flights to Gatwick, South of London, and to Paris. None of that is going on.”
Companies are also dealing with the loss of non-stop domestic flights. Cleveland accounting firm, Ernst & Young, estimates 100 of their employees fly every day.
“For example, us flying to Kansas City might be more difficult than it was before,” explained Lee Thomas, Partner at Ernst & Young.
5 On Your Side found United is making cutbacks at all its hubs. Since 2007, United cut 29-percent of its flights in and out Cleveland. Those cuts could be deeper in the next three years.
Under a 2010 state agreement, United can decrease flights if its profits here don’t meet certain standards.
To keep United committed to Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland Partnership is asking businesses to spend up to $300 more per ticket to fly out of Cleveland’s hub.
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article courtesy of Newsnet5.com
