The airline industry’s desperate countermeasures for coping with soaring fuel costs could deal a serious financial blow to airports such as Raleigh-Durham International Airport, which in recent years has saddled itself with more than $400 million in debt for a new terminal.

“They’re going to lose business,” David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association airline trade group, says of airports around the country. “It’s that simple. I think there’s pain to be felt by everyone.”

RDU may have felt the first twinge of that pain with American Eagle’s announcement June 25 that it will cut 10 flights at the airport.

RDU has built its business plan around being a low-cost place for airlines to operate - a strategy that relies on drawing in as many carriers and travelers as possible. Passenger volume - which leads to more parking, rental-car and passenger-facility charges, or PFCs - is RDU’s cash cow.

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