=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2002/03= /13/BU127608.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, March 13, 2002 (SF Chronicle) Airlines to add 160 flights a week at SFO Marshall Wilson, Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writers After slashing flight schedules after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, several airlines have announced plans to expand spring and summer service at San Francisco International Airport by as many as 160 flights a week. The increase is led by United Airlines, which is adding three daily flights to Chicago's O'Hare airport and to Los Angeles International Airport starting April 7. United plans to expand to 16 daily flights between SFO and O'Hare on June 6, said spokesman Joe Hopkins. Alaska, Hawaiian, American TransAir and even the Russian carrier Aeroflot have also announced plans to expand service this summer. "That's a good start," said SFO spokesman Mike McCarron. Passenger traffic at San Francisco International is down about 15 to 18 percent from the same period last year, McCarron said. Air travel had already slacked off early last year due to the weak economy, while the terrorist attacks kept millions of jittery passengers from flying. But the additional flights show the airlines are expecting a recovery, even if flight schedules will remain well below last summer's levels. United -- the largest carrier at SFO -- is increasing the number of daily flights in its worldwide schedule by 15 percent, with 430 more flights on United routes and an additional 184 flights on United Express routes. "We always build our schedule up for the summer travel period," Hopkins said. But he said this year's buildup is still not as robust as in past summer= s. He added that the overall number of available seats is still down 16 percent compared with last year. With the added flights, United plans to recall hundreds of employees who were furloughed when the carrier slashed service by about 23 percent after Sept. 11. The airline laid off about 20,000 employees in October and an additional 900 in January. Hopkins said the carrier hasn't decided how many mechanics, customer service representatives and ramp workers will be recalled, but the majority will be for positions at O'Hare, which is near United's headquarters in Elk Grove Township, Ill. Across all carriers at SFO, many of the flights appear geared to lure the leisure traveler back. Hawaiian plans to add a a daily flight to Maui on June 15. Alaska plans = to add two daily nonstops to Boise, Idaho, starting April 1 and American TransAir plans to add daily flights to Honolulu and Maui on May 1. Aeroflot plans to add one more flight to its twice-weekly departures for Moscow as of May 29, and Lufthansa plans to add a daily departure for Munich, Germany, starting April 7. In all, airlines have announced plans to add 160 flights each week by the start of summer, with a total of more than 26,000 seats, according to SFO officials. But airlines are also expected to drop another 32 flights with a total of 9, 300 seats. For instance, United will not reinstate its SFO-to-Seoul flight. Italian carrier Alitalia will not resume its daily SFO-to-Milan route. Karl Peterson, president of Hotwire, a travel Web site based in San Francisco, said passengers should be prepared for rising fares, which on average dropped sharply after Sept. 11. "The airlines need to raise their fares on average because they cannot make a profit at this level," Peterson said E-mail Marshall Wilson at marshallwilson@sfchronicle.com and Benny Evangelista at bevangelista@sfchronicle.com. SERVICE TAKES OFF Increased flights per week expected by summer: . Aeroflot 1 Alaska 14 All Nippon 2 American TransAir 14 Hawaiian 7 Japan 1 Lufthansa 7 United 112 Singapore 2 . Source: S.F. Airport Commission ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle