AirTran to discontinue Bermuda service in 2014

The Hon Shawn Crockwell J.P., M.P., Minister of Tourism Development and Transport today said that Air Tran will no longer fly to Bermuda in 2014.

The airline, which is merging with Southwest Airlines, is in the midst of reducing its fleet as it continues to merge itself into one carrier and as such, they’ve had to make some difficult strategic decisions regarding certain routes. 

Bermuda is the airline’s only seasonal service with all other Southwest/AirTran routes serviced year round.

Minister Crockwell said: “This news is very disappointing but not entirely unexpected. However, having had discussions with AirTran management, they have left the door open to returning to Bermuda in the future once they have optimized their fleet and seek to manage future growth. We will continue to work with AirTran and hope they will indeed continue to operate a Bermuda service in coming years.”  

An AirTran spokesman said: “We've had conversations today with the Ministry of Tourism and our other business partners in Bermuda about our decision not to resume seasonal service to the island. While we can't rule out a decision to return in the future, service to Bermuda on AirTran currently doesn't meet our performance targets. This is a business decision toward our vigilant goal of using our planes and our People for opportunities that make the most sense for our Customers. AirTran Airways began service to Bermuda from BWI in April 2011 and ATL in May 2011 and our final flight from the airport in Hamilton operated on September 2nd, 2013.”