Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette An airplane readies for takeoff at the Houghton County Memorial Airport. The airport has recorded 13,305 passengers through March 31, which demonstrates a trend of the highest traffic since 2000.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP — The Houghton County Memorial Airport (CMX) is on its way to reach its highest traffic since 2000. From January to March 2025, the airport reported 13,305 passengers. The figure is up more than 3,000 when compared to last year. The numbers tabulated reflect not just passengers arriving or leaving the location, but rather the combination of them.

Airport Manager Dennis Hext said the numbers are a good rebound from COVID and the last couple of years that followed it. A typical year sees 50,000 passengers a year at CMX, but with the current trend he is hopeful it will be around 55,000. Hext attributes the recent success to more than just the quality service the staff provides to travelers.

“I think the reason [for the success] is because we have very competitive fares compared to other airports in the region … ,” he said. “The connections out of O’Hare are phenomenal too.”

Sky West Airlines, a regional air service contracted by United Airlines, became affiliated with CMX when the airport’s Essential Air Service Contract needed an airline. Sky West conducts two flights a day to and from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, one of the world’s busiest, and provides some of the furthest reaching destinations for air passengers in the U.S.

“[Chicago] has more airlines than Detroit and Minneapolis,” Hext said. “So you get more frequency when you go to Chicago and you get better fares, because they (airlines) have got to compete. You’ve got United as the biggest hub, and then you have American right behind it. They’re the second largest carrier in there. And then you’ve got Delta and others.”

Houghton County Memorial Airport is not just soaring high in the skies, but in ambitions as well. The airport has made strides by investing in the development of a new terminal. The current building was constructed in 1972, and Hext said better insulation, energy efficiency and utility and maintenance costs would be improved with modern construction. He also explained a more visually appealing building and its interior would benefit the local community.

“The benefit is when people get off the planes here this is the first thing they see,” Hext said. “This is the first impression they have of the Copper Country. So to have a new building, a new modern facility, would go along a long ways towards showcasing a good impression of the area.”

The process of constructing the new terminal is currently going through the cost benefit analysis with the FAA. Hext said this includes a forecast of what the airport will look like in the next 20 or 30 years. If approved by the FAA, the next step will be designing the terminal.