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Airport Flight Number Remains at Four for Summer Months

Posted on: Monday, 5 June 2006, 12:01 CDT

By RC Balaban, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

Jun. 3--WATERLOO -- With the summer months nearly here, the Waterloo Regional Airport will likely have to make due with fewer flights than last year.

The four flights per day currently serving the airport are likely to remain in place, which is a drop from six daily flights this time last year. Airport manager Brad Hagen said fewer flight options may mean area travelers will have to seek other options.

"We may not be able to get everyone to fly out of Waterloo that wants to fly out of Waterloo," Hagen said.

For the past few years, the airport had six flights per day from June through August. In September, the airport dropped to five flights to adjust for the off-peak travel season.

Last year, Northwest Airlines, which schedules the flights out of Waterloo, filed for bankruptcy. As part of the company's restructuring, it trimmed flights from airports across the country. The Waterloo Regional Airport further dropped to four flights Oct. 1.

At the time, officials were hopeful the flights would be added back to Waterloo's schedule. However, that won't be the case. Hagen said airport officials were told they "should feel pretty good that they were leaving four flights in place as well as the regional jet."

Having fewer flights is part of the reason passenger counts have been down at the airport for the first three months of the year when compared with last year. From January through March, the airport had 7,457 passengers, compared with 9,026 for the same time period the previous year.

Hagen also pointed to several other reasons for the drop, including a strike by Northwest mechanics and bankruptcy trouble by Mesaba Airlines, which operates the flights out of Waterloo.

Hagen said the airport's focus is on making its current flights as profitable as possible so the airport is more attractive to Northwest when the company begins adding flights.

"We want to make sure Waterloo is at the top of the list or near the top of the list," Hagen said.

Indeed, while passengers have been down each month so far this year, capacity is up. Capacity during those time periods rose from 55.4 percent in 2005 to 62 percent in 2006.

Hagen said the hope is that both Northwest and Mesaba will become more efficient, which would mean better service for the area.

"In the long term, its going to be good for Waterloo and the Cedar Valley," Hagen said.

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To see more of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wcfcourier.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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NWACQ, MAIR,

Source: Waterloo Courier

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