This makes me
VERY MAD 
Delta is no longer serving Atlantic City after April 30. We have been looking for new airliners for years so they can start service to Atlantic City and bring revenue and money to the city. It's a pity that one more airliner decides to leave. Atlanta provided connections to onward destinations for many South Jersey residents. Now many residents have to drive further for 2 hours to airports in Philadelphia and New York, which are very congested
Hopefully besides Florida service, we
may be getting new service in the future
From the Press of Atlantic CityHigh cost of fuel to blame for latest departure at A.C. International By STEVEN LEMONGELLO Staff Writer, 609-272-7275
Published: Saturday, March 15, 2008
When the last Delta flight leaves Atlantic City International Airport at 4 p.m. on April 30, it will be unfair to compare it with the last helicopter out of Saigon exactly 33 years earlier. Spirit Airlines will still be operating out of the Egg Harbor Township airport - the last major air carrier left.
But it comes close.
The operators of Atlantic City International, aviation consultant Mike Boyd said, "have done everything humans can do short of extortion to get additional air service in there - and there will be additional air service. ... They're working as hard as they can, but when oil goes to $110 (per barrel), it's very hard to get airlines to do anything."
Delta is just the latest airline to leave Atlantic City International in the airplane equivalent of a rear-view mirror. Continental Express flew out of ACY for a whopping 10 weeks before the thrice-daily service was scrapped in the days after 9-11 - although, as South Jersey Transportation Authority spokeswoman Sharon Gordon pointed out, the airline pulled out of every regional airport at the same time.
Before that, USAir loyally stuck around for 30 years before pulling out in 2003 to focus on its Philadelphia hub. USAir's run included a takeover of the short-lived Trump Shuttle in 1992 after Donald Trump shed his assets in an attempt to stay afloat.
Charter jet carrier Emerald Air tried to make a go of flights to Orlando, New Orleans and Virginia out of ACY in 1989, while American International Airways and People Express Airlines didn't outlast the Reagan administration.
Spirit, for now the only major airline left at ACY, began its Atlantic City operations as Charter One Airlines in 1987 - flying a route to Providence using two 50-seat turboprops built in 1963. Even they, however, have cut back their local routes, with the much-heralded non-stop flights to Las Vegas barely surviving the year.
Still, according to Boyd, Delta's decision "had nothing to to do with Atlantic City International. It has to do with Delta's fleet. Now that oil is at $110 dollars a barrel, they have to park all those 50-foot jets. It's hard to make money with those jets when oil is at $60 a barrel, when it's over a hundred it's a lead-pipe cinch to lose money."
Seconding that notion was Gordon of SJTA, which operates Atlantic City International. She said that Delta told the SJTA they regretted leaving the market but it would take more than 100 percent occupancy out of ACY to just break even.
"In today's environment of rising fuel prices, airlines are making decisions across the nation about what airports they must be in," she said. "There's no way they could be competitive with those costs."
The ACY to Atlanta flights were the fourth route in the last week that Delta cut short, Boyd said.
"It's a long haul to get down to Atlanta, and the revenue doesn't support it," he said. "People say, 'Why not just raise fares?' But you can't. People will just hit the highway that heads to Philadelphia. There's six to eight flights a day, every day. Frequency does make a difference."
Combating such "economies of scale" is difficult, but Gordon believed that a combination of incentives and lower operational costs is the right formula to attract more carriers.
"Airplanes are not going to be queued in line," she said. "We own our own airspace. They can pull away from the gate and be ready to take off. They're not burning fuel waiting for the gate to open, and that's very helpful in this economic environment."
Gordon said that there are some "very positive prospects" among the airlines the SJTA has had discussions with.
"I'm looking at it as a very good position for Atlantic City," she said. "International regional airports are part of the solution to overcome the airport capacity constrictions now facing Newark and Philadelphia. ... We're recapturing what's been leaked to Newark and Philadelphia."
Besides developing a stringer mix of business and leisure travelers, Gordon said, the SJTA is also looking to join up with casino properties and airlines to aggressively market the region.
"Partnerships and coalitions need to be forged," she said, "to forward this area as a destination. We need to attract people who stay longer, a different profile of visitor. ... I think that time has come."
In the end, she said, "We believe (airlines) have a bright future for Atlantic City International - if they're the right fit."
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. It can be weather related or not. 
..gif "lgh (21)")
