As reported by local Austin NBC affiliate KXAN, JSX is moving operations from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to Austin Executive Airport (EDC). The move is reported to happen on December 14th and comes after the airline significantly cut operations at AUS due to “real estate constraints” after increasing their route map earlier this year.
The airline famously doesn’t operate from airport terminal facilities and instead uses fixed based operators to make for a hassle free travel experience. The airline advertises the fact that passengers can show up only 20 minutes before your flight and skip the TSA security checkpoints. This is especially appealing in Austin where security lines can sometimes stretch out of the airport. I personally am a big fan of JXS and have had the opportunity to fly with them on multiple occasions to and from Austin.
JSX operated flights from the Signature Flight Support FBO to Dallas, Las Vegas, Gunnison/Crested Butte, and Taos, NM before a reduction in service on October 1st. nCurrently, JSX only plans to move the Austin to Taos route to EDC and will announce additional service in the future and the airline’s route map has already been updated to reflect the change.
It will be interesting to see if they add back their full number of routes and frequencies though I’m somewhat skeptical due to their move. While AUS is located a short distance from Downtown Austin, EDC is located on the northeastern outskirts of the metro area near Pflugerville along SH-130 (known as the road with the fastest posted speed limit in the United States). The airport is 18 miles from Downtown Austin and out of the way for a large portion of the area.
Austin Sees Service Cuts
The cuts by the carrier comes as Austin is seeing a reduction of destinations across the board. The airport grew rapidly during, and prior to, the pandemic with many new airlines and routes serving the airport. In the last few months Virgin Atlantic announced they will cease service to Austin citing low demand, specifically related to a downturn in business travel and the tech sector. American Airlines has announced the removal of 21 nonstop routes with cuts coming between January and April next year.
While other airlines announced recent cuts due to demand, JSX is relocating due to the aforementioned constraints with the fixed base operators. It will be interesting to see how this affects their presence in Austin going forward due to the out of the way location of Austin Executive Airport and as area continues to see routes cut at Austin-Bergstrom due to softening demand.
