Propelled by pilot shortages and sheer cost reductions, airlines are now offering buses to fill in for short-haul regional flights, complete with security and bag check before boarding the bus to a larger airport to continue the flight.
American is adding a third destination, Lancaster, PA, to its Philadelphia-based bus network. And that raises a question: Because Lancaster is an airport covered by the Federal Essential Air Service program, which guarantees service to numbers of smaller airports where airlines can’t make money, AA might have a future thought of qualifying the bus for an EAS subsidy. That subsidy is now held by Southern Airways Express, which flies small planes to Baltimore.
The economics of the bus are obvious: a 90-minute luxury bus ride vs a 90-minute drive vs. a 32-minute $1690 air taxi service. From AA’s point, serving Lancaster with its smallest 50-seat plane would require two pilots and a flight attendant and tons of fuel, while the bus needs just a driver and a lot less fuel. If AA eventually gets EAS status for a bus route, more will likely follow.
