Pilot Shortage Leads to Canceled Flights at Waterloo Regional Airport

By Drew Andersen, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

Mar. 8–WATERLOO — Up to 14 flights out of the Waterloo Regional Airport have been canceled this month due to a “staff shortage” on its Northwest Airlink carrier.

Northwest Airlink is operated by Pinnacle Airlines through a partnership with Northwest Airlines, and according to Pinnacle media contact Phil Reed, the company is “experiencing an abnormal level of attrition among its pilot ranks recently.” Airport director Brad Hagen estimates that as many as 14 of Northwest Airlink’s 7 a.m. flights out of Waterloo have been canceled this month.

Neither Pinnacle nor Northwest would give a definitive answer for why the pilot shortage has occurred. “My understanding is that [Pinnacle] was trying to recall pilots off of a furlough list… and that there was a shortage of the pilots because a lot of them went to mainline Northwest, and some went to other airlines,” said Hagen.

Hagen said that he has continued to work closely with Northwest Airlines to get the flights reinstated.

” Northwest had a meeting (Tuesday morning) to look at ways, running up the chain of command, to help Waterloo,” said Hagen. “Our argument to them was that some other airports are less affected when they have other airlines they can put passengers on.”

Steve Christoph, president of Superior Welding in Waterloo, and his family were among the hundreds of Northwest Airlink customers who were affected by the cancellations. Christoph purchased tickets in October for a spring vacation to Arizona this week, but he had to scramble to make accommodations after learning on Monday that his flight had been canceled.

“You get these tickets in October, and you pay a premium to fly out of Waterloo,” said Christoph. “I could have paid half the price for these tickets out of Des Moines back in October, but I didn’t just because I wanted to fly out of Waterloo. I like to support the Cedar Valley, but this puts a sour taste in your mouth.” He added that the situation would deter him from using the Waterloo Regional Airport in the future.

Northwest Airlines media relations manager Roman Blahoski said that the flights “are being removed from the NWA schedule and customers are being contacted and rebooked on other flights.” However, Hagen expressed displeasure in Northwest’s efforts to notify passengers about the cancellations.

“If these cancellations are going to occur, Northwest hasn’t done a very good job of letting travel agents know and letting customers know,” said Hagen. “That has made a bad situation worse.” Hagen added that anyone with tickets for upcoming flights should check with their travel agent or airline to ensure that their flight had not been canceled.

Despite the situation, Hagen insisted that Waterloo Regional Airport’s relationship with Northwest Airlines was copacetic. He said that Northwest has maintained steady performance and completion rates through Pinnacle and Mesaba — the other Northwest affiliate that runs flights out of Waterloo.

“It is very frustrating, and we are very concerned about it, but we realize that it is a short-term issue,” said Hagen. “We’re confident that they are going to get this worked out and also put programs into effect in Waterloo that will help earn back the trust and confidence of the customers in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.”

Contact Drew Andersen at (319) 291-1418 or drew.andersen@wcfcourier.com.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa

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