AirTran to drop nonstop Boston-Rochester flights

AirTran Airways, which began offering a pair of Boston-Rochester, N.Y. non-stop flights in July, will phase them out Jan. 3, a spokeswoman said, after failing to make much headway against US Airways, the dominant incumbent on the route.

AirTran has recently averaged just 5 percent of the business on the 343-mile route, compared to 84 percent for US Airways, according to FareCompare.com, a travel website that analyzes airline ticket records submitted to the US Department of Transportation.

US Airways runs four daily commuter-jet flights on the route and charges an average of $392 round-trip, $70 more than AirTran's average, according to FareCompare.

AirTran will continue to serve 8 destinations nonstop from Logan International Airport, including Atlanta and Philadelphia, and will add daily service to Orlando, Fla., Dec. 21. (Peter J. Howe)