Originally Posted by
DELLAS
These cancellations are however no more or less than many other airlines. If the bookings do not warrant a service then it makes sense to cancel and re book passengers on other options. It may be a pain for the small number of passengers booked but better than to run loss making routes/flights.
This is unquestionably true - even some of the biggest airlines in the world do this, and they'll only continue to run services (assuming they're a Community carrier) to the date where cancelling won't cost them any compensation under EC261.
US airlines, where passenger protection is virtually non-existent, are likely to be even more ruthless.
BA has just cancelled one of the last remaining ex-BD routes (to Baku, Azerbaijan) on pretty much the minimum notice, and that's now an extremely difficult and expensive flight to replace on what has become a monopoly route from London with Azerbaijan Airlines. At least with A3 cancellations to the islands, there's usually a cost-effective replacement option.