Short flights are popular. Will they last?

Short regional flights are the lifeblood of U.S aviation — but they were in decline even before jet fuel concerns struck. Here, a file photo shows a Delta Air Lines Connection regional jet operated by GoJet Airlines taking off from Logan International Airport in Boston. Charles Krupa/AP hide caption toggle caption Charles Krupa/AP U.S. domestic air travel has boomed in recent years, except for one segment. Short flights of a few hundred miles decreased over the past decade, while longer flights became more popular, according to data gathered by the aviation analytics firm OAG for NPR. Nearly 4 million short flights are scheduled for this year. But as of mid-April, the number of flights spanning less than 250 nautical miles had declined by 11% from 2016 to 2026 — the biggest drop of any route length. The decline comes as no surprise to John Grant, a senior analyst at OAG. "That is an awful distance to be operating," he says, because short flights are more expensive for airlines than flights with a longer cruise time. In contrast, every domestic flight category of more than 500 miles saw notable gains over the same 10-year span. The numbers depict the U.S. hub-and-spoke aviation system moving toward longer "spokes" for some routes. The trend was well established even before rising fuel prices from the Iran war rattled U.S. aviation. It could now accelerate, as airlines raise prices and trim less-profitable flights due to jet fuel supply constraints. …