What Airline Hub Closures Mean For Communities

Published February 4, 2014 at 12:20 PM CST

A United Airlines sits on the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport on January 23, 2014 in San Francisco, California. United Airlines parent company United Continental Holdings reported a surge in fourth quarter profits with earnings of $140 million compared to a loss of $620 million one year ago. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

This weekend, United Airlines announced it was cutting roughly 60 percent of its departures from Cleveland, beginning this spring. The move effectively eliminates United’s hub at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

Yesterday, city officials gave their official response to the news, doing their best to put a positive spin on it. We hear a report from Brian Bull of WCPN, a Here & Now contributor station.

In 2003, St. Louis was in much the same position that Cleveland is in now. Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson speaks to Juli Niemann of Smith Moore and Company in St. Louis about what Cleveland can learn from St. Louis. And Seth Kaplan of Airline Weekly joins them with an update on what hub closures could follow the merger of American and U.S. Airways.

Reporter

Brian Bull, reporter for WCPN in Cleveland, Ohio. He tweets @bcbull.

Guests

Seth Kaplan, managing partner of the industry trade publication Airline Weekly.
Juli Niemann, financial analyst with Smith Moore and Company in St. Louis, Mo.