PORTLAND (AP) – Low-fare airline Independence Air plans to reduce its service at Portland International Jetport as part of a restructuring aimed at avoiding bankruptcy by cutting fuel and operating costs.

Effective Nov. 1, the carrier will cut its five daily flights in Portland down to two.

Independence Air spokesman Rick DeLisi said the airline, which has its hub at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., has no plans to stop flying out of Portland.

“We’re very pleased with the response we see in Portland,” DeLisi said. “We’ve been made to feel very welcome there.”

Over the 16 months that Independence Air has been operating, other airlines have trimmed their fares in Portland to meet the competition. Independence Air has grown over the past year to handle 10 percent of all jetport traffic, more than Continental and nearly equal to Northwest.

An official at the jetport expressed disappointment at the cutback.

“That’s a big hole,” said Greg Hughes, the jetport marketing manager. “It’s not a good sign.”

The airline was running 132-seat Airbus A319 aircraft on two of its five daily flights this summer, an indicator of strong passenger loads.

“It’s disturbing because Independence Air has had good load factors,” Hughes said. “But that doesn’t mean they’re making money.”

Under the systemwide restructuring, the airline will eliminate some routes, fly fewer regional jets and trim the number of daily departures by more than half.

The cutback comes as four of the six airlines serving Portland – US Airways, United, Delta and Northwest – are operating under bankruptcy protection.

Independence Air is cutting back from a peak of 600 flights a day last fall to fewer than 250 now.

The carrier’s parent company, Flyi Inc., has been warning in securities filings that cash flow, competition, fuel costs and other challenges are threatening the company’s survival.