Wichita Eisenhower Airport reports that April traffic decreased 95% compared to April 2019. The monthly passenger total was 7,363 compared to 136,125. For the year, passengers are down 36%. COVID-19 has been devastating to air travel around the country and the world as passengers have virtually stopped traveling. Fear of catching the coronavirus, stay-at-home orders and closures have kept people home. Airlines have reduced flights to a bare minimum as required by the CARES ACT. At ICT, capacity for Q2 2020 has been slashed 50% compared to Q2 2019.
April aviation reports can be found in Airport Business.
April 2020 Total Passengers
| April 2020 | April 2019 | #Diff. | %Diff. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 375 | 4,155 | (3,780) | -91% |
| Allegiant | 27 | 5,070 | (5,043) | -99% |
| American | 3,351 | 35,935 | (32,584) | -91% |
| Delta | 1,353 | 29,587 | (28,234) | -95% |
| Frontier | 13 | 3,323 | (3,310) | -100% |
| Southwest | 937 | 24,148 | (23,211) | -96% |
| United | 1,307 | 33,845 | (32,538) | -96% |
| TOTAL | 7,363 | 136,063 | (128,700) | -95% |
Instead of planning schedules six months into the future, airlines are scheduling flights on a monthly basis, monitoring future bookings and openings around the country. As states are starting to open, travel is starting to increase and airlines are cautiously adding flights to their schedules. Nationwide, TSA throughput has increased 86% from May 1 to May 21, but is still down 88% from last year.
The COVID-19 pandemic is unchartered territory for the airline industry. There are many guesses as to when the industry will rebound. Some compare it to the 9/11 attack which took three years to rebound. Some say seven years based on the recession of 2008-2009. But the airline executives agree that it will be a smaller industry, with fewer airlines, fewer flights.
Airlines have implemented several policies and procedures to keep travelers safe and airports have implemented social distancing and face-covering policies as well. At ICT, we have ramped up our cleaning and disinfecting procedures, added hand sanitizers throughout the building, installed plexiglass shields at ticket counters and TSA, and employees wear face coverings. (See our May 15 newsroom article). It is cleaner, healthier and safer than ever to fly.
