Direct flights make traveling easier

To the editor:

The Dec. 18 article ('Future in flux for smaller airports”) about Iowa's airports was interesting, and informative, but I feel missed some things.

The hub and spoke method we use for air travel was good for its time, but it is ripe for change. Fuel and time are wasted by flying many planes into a hub in order to aggregate passengers onto larger flights. Big airports or an independent body assign airlines slots at the airport. This is done on a use it or lose it basis, so airlines will fly almost empty planes into hubs, just to keep their slots. We have the technology to determine where people travel and how often. Let's use that information to create more direct flights and waste less time in airports out of state.

Europe has changed their system to great effect. Check out Ryanair.com or Easyjet.com. I priced a flight from London, England, to Glasgow, Scotland, at under $150. It takes an hour and a half. I had to use Kansas City and Minneapolis to find a flight for comparison. It was $366 and went through Chicago and took five hours. They are both six hour drives.

Roy J. Poppe

Cedar Rapids