Somehow This Major U.S. Airport Cannot Buy A Flight To Europe

March 16, was the last time that a flight from Europe arrived at Philadelphia International Airport, then the largest trans-Atlantic hub for the world’s largest airline. The day saw six arrivals from Europe — three from London Heathrow, two from Dublin, and one from Manchester.

The last one, American Airlines
AAL
Flight 735 from Manchester, landed at 1:08 p.m., nearly six months ago. Since then, this important link between two regions, closely connected for four centuries, has largely evaporated, and no one can say why.

“It befuddles me why we don’t have funneling status,” Chellie Cameron, CEO of Philadelphia International Airport, said Wednesday during a webinar with leaders from the British American Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and American Airlines,

“What’s been very disheartening is that there are airports that have less international flying” that have nevertheless been included on a list of 15 “funneling airports,” permitted by the Trump administration to process international arrivals.

In mid-March, the Department of Homeland Security announced that 11 U.S. airports could receive passengers from abroad. Over time, the list was expanded to 15 airports, all with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stations that can screen arriving passengers.

PHL has a CDC station, one that apparently is insufficiently staffed. No one seems to know why.

Responding to a written question about whether the slight is political, Cameron responded, “I can’t really say. I don’t know. Nobody has really spoken out to let us know specifically why Philadelphia is not on the list.”

Pennsylvania’s two U.S. Senators include both a Democrat and a Republican. Both have written or signed letters to federal officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, requesting that PHL be added to the airport list. Both U.S. Senators from Delaware have also signed letters.

The 15 funneling airports are in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York (JFK), Newark, Seattle, San Francisco and Washington (Dulles).

Exclusion is competitive disadvantage, Cameron said, noting: “If New York is able to carry international passengers, and we are not, what do you think is going to happen?”

With 6.1 million people, the Philadelphia area is the eighth most populated region in the U.S, the only one of the eight without a funneling airport.

The loss is imposing, said CVB President Gregg Caren, who cited declines of more than half a million overseas visitors who would have spent an estimated $3.4 billion About 110,000 jobs have been lost to the region’s hospitality industry, Caren said.

The region “built up a long-term standing with these international travelers as a gateway city,” he said. Those travelers could choose to enter the U.S. through other gateways, resulting in patients lost to Philadelphia area hospitals and students lost to Philadelphia area colleges, officials said.

As the coronavirus crisis emerged in March, the list of funneling airports initially included those with China service. As travel restrictions were expanded, the list was expanded to include airports with service to Europe, the U.K. and Brazil. Just not PHL.

Cameron raised the specter that American could look elsewhere, noting, “We have been designated as American’s transatlantic gateway – My god, I hope we still keep it.” But there has been no indication that American would seek to diminish its role at PHL, where it has 9,500 employees and a 70% market share.

In September 2019, American flew trans-Atlantic flights from Philadelphia to 19 destinations. Five other airlines including Air Lingus, British Airways and Lufthansa also served Ireland, England and Europe. All together, they offered 155,827 seats to Europe, according to Cirium, an aviation data and analytics company.

During the webinar, Jim Moses, American’s vice president for operations at PHL, JFK, LGA and Boston, said American continues to plan 17 PHL peak daily departures to 16 transatlantic destinations in summer 2021.

In the meantime, PHL will get a single transatlantic destination on Thursday, when Qatar Airways restores service to Doha.

“We are proud to be the leading global airline connecting passengers with the world,” said Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker, in a prepared statement. “The gradual rebuilding of our network has been focused on strengthening connections between our hub in Doha and key gateways around the world.”