Trending
HOUGHTON -- Passenger numbers at Houghton County Memorial Airport are recovering from the dropoff during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Airport Manager Dennis Hext said flights were between 90 to 100% full over the Fourth of July weekend. Outside the holiday, load factors have been around 55 to 60% -- still below the normal level for early summer, but an improvement over last year's numbers.
"We're slowly getting back to normal, at least at the airport here," he said. "Across the country, the trend is actually getting very close, back to pre-COVID."
The biggest hurdle nationally is rebuilding the capacity for a pre-COVID number of flights, as companies rush to get planes and crews back online.
"It takes time to do that, so they're adding flights and they're going gangbusters to fill the slack the quickest," he said.
At this rate, Hext anticipates being close to the normal load factors of 70 to 80% in July and August.
As travel returns to normal, so are fares. Cheaper fares are still out there, Hext said, but it helps to look for flights a couple of months in advance.
"If you try to book a week to two weeks beforehand, you're going to get the most expensive fare," he said.
The airport is also nearing approval of two major grants. Hext expects his application to be approved for the customary infrastructure grant; despite the pandemic, the airport was able to hit the 10,000-enplanement mark in 2020 to qualify. The $1.075 million grant will be used for design work, as well as a new front-end loader and runway broom.
The airport has also applied for a $1.1 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant, to cover operations.
Hext anticipates both grant requests to be formally approved in the next couple of months.