Buffalo Niagara International Airport - Service History

Service History

When the Federal Government deregulated the airline industry in 1978, Buffalo was served by four airlines: three "trunk carriers" (American Airlines, United Airlines, and Eastern Air Lines) and one "local service carrier" (Allegheny Airlines). American and United used the East Terminal, and Allegheny and Eastern used the West Terminal.

During the "glory years" for mainline-sized jet service at U.S. medium-size airports in the 1970s and 1980s, Buffalo regularly hosted widebody (twin-aisle) passenger jets. American Airlines operated McDonnell Douglas DC-10s to Chicago O'Hare International Airport and other points. Eastern Air Lines operated Lockheed L-1011s and Airbus A300s to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Eastern's flights often did 'tag-on' hops to Toronto Pearson International Airport due to legal restrictions on flights between the United States and Canada at that time. Buffalo still hosts many mainline passenger jet aircraft, but scheduled flights are now typically limited to narrowbody (single-aisle) aircraft. Today Buffalo hosts widebody passenger flights which are charters for the Buffalo Bills or their visiting National Football League opponents.

Shortly after Deregulation, American and United began reducing service at medium-sized Northeastern markets such as Buffalo, in search of higher profits elsewhere. Many other airlines entered the Buffalo market, and the 1980s saw a riot of new airline service as the industry began to take its post-deregulation shape. Most of these new carriers did not survive the decade.

The most prominent new carrier at Buffalo was People Express Airlines, a low-fare carrier founded in 1981 with a hub at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, next to New York City. Buffalo, along with Norfolk, Virginia and Columbus, Ohio was one of the original three cities served by People from Newark. The airline grew rapidly into a major carrier, and at its peak ran over 10 flights per day from Buffalo to Newark. However, too-rapid growth including an ill-considered purchase of the original Frontier Airlines (1950-1986), as well as bad management, led to People's demise in 1987. They were bought and assimilated by Continental Airlines. Continental Connection Flight 3407 which crashed six miles short of Runway 23 on February 12, 2009, was operating the old People Express route from Newark.

Other carriers that served Buffalo in the 1980s include (but are not limited to):

  • TWA (Trans World Airlines), which served Buffalo briefly around 1979-1981 during a short-lived experiment running a hub in Pittsburgh.
  • Republic Airlines (1979-1986), a Minneapolis-based carrier which ran flights from Buffalo to its hub at Detroit starting in 1984 and which was bought by Northwest Airlines in 1987;
  • Empire Airlines (1976-1985), a regional carrier based in Utica which built a hub at Syracuse Hancock International Airport after deregulation and ran regional jet and turboprop flights within the Northeast;
  • Mall Airways, a small regional carrier based at Albany International Airport, operated flights from Buffalo to their Albany hub in the mid-1980s.
  • Piedmont Airlines, a pre-Deregulation local service carrier from North Carolina which built a hub at Baltimore-Washington International Airport after Deregulation and ran flights to the Northeast, Southeast, and Florida, and was bought by USAir in 1987 and merged into them in 1989.

In 1986-1987, most of the US airline industry consolidated through a series of buyouts and mergers. By the end of 1989 most domestic air service in the US was provided six surviving "legacy carriers." At the end of the 1980s, airline service in Buffalo was provided mostly by these six airlines and their regional affiliates: American, United, Continental, USAir, Northwest, and Delta Air Lines. During the 1990s, with People Express safely vanquished, these carriers kept fares high and enplanements stagnant at Buffalo. The section below discusses the emergence of low-fare service, and the airport's resulting service renaissance, beginning around 2000.

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