Let’s take the terror attack at Brussels’ airport as an example. The good news is that BRU, to use the airport’s typical code, is now open again. The bad news is that the airport’s departure hall, where people check in for their flights, was heavily damaged in the attack and repairs are going to take a couple more months. The solution for now is to have passengers check in at a big tent. Security measures are very strict and very time consuming.
U.S. airlines have responded to the attacks by reducing service to BRU. Delta Air Lines has suspended its daily Atlanta-Brussels flight until March of next year though it does continue to fly New York JFK – Brussels daily. It also said that the terror attack had a $5 million impact on its earnings.
Before the attack, American Airlines only had a single flight to Brussels. It was from Philadelphia on a 757 with daily service during the summer and six flights a week during the winter. The flight has changed to being summer-seasonal only and with a very short season at that — just June 14 to August 21. American has said that the season next year will be a bit longer, with PHL-BRU flights picking up again in May 2017.
The combined impact of the Delta and American cuts make it a lot more cumbersome to fly to Brussels if you live in North Carolina. Yes, United Airlines and its alliance partner Brussels Airlines flies there from a couple places in the U.S. but United is (at best) the third frequent flier preference around here.
Airline routes are constantly in flux, and it remains to be seen how American and Delta adjust their service levels to Belgium over time. One thing though seems certain: The air service market from the U.S. to Brussels three to five years from now will look much different than had the events of March 22 not happened.
