The pandemic hit the airline industry hard in 2020.
The six biggest U.S. airlines suffered combined losses of $22 billion in the second and third quarters this year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In Peoria, airport director Gene Olson said the year started on a bright note at Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport with record-setting months in both January and February.
Then the pandemic hit, and the number of passengers flying in and out of Peoria declined from 52,825 in February to 36,343 in March.
The bottom dropped out in April when only 2,928 passengers used the Peoria airport.
“Since that low point in the spring when things closed down nationally, we’ve slowly climbed our way up,” said Olson.
But the 27,800 passenger trips recorded at the Peoria airport in October was still 40 percent lower than the previous October—and the lowest October figure since 1982, he said.
Going back through airport records, Olson said the total number of passengers served in 2020 will be the lowest since 1973 when a strike by the mechanics union for Ozark Airlines shut down airport operations for two months.
“We’re doing a little better than the national average,” he said, noting other airports have taken an even bigger hit.
“Allegiant takes about half of our market now—up from about one-quarter. That tells you the business traveler is not traveling,” said Olson, adding Allegiant Airlines focuses on leisure travelers with select flights.
“For your legacy carriers such as American, Delta and United, the business traveler is their bread and butter,” he said.
The Peoria airport is not only carrying fewer people, but offering fewer flights, said Olson. “We were offering 34 flights a day in February. Now we’re down to 14 to 15 a day,” he said.
Olson said a $6.2 million federal grant the Peoria airport received earlier as part of the coronavirus relief package passed in the spring should cover operational losses at the airport for another year-and-a-half.
As for when the airport can expect to return to normal service again, Olson said he looks forward to “a reliable vaccine” to help allay passenger fears of flying. “Problems will continue for awhile until people feel safe traveling again,” he said.
Olson said he hoped passenger confidence could be restored by the middle of 2021,r but feared it could be several years before there's a full recovery.
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