Allegiant Air restarts flights to Las Vegas from Tri-Cities
Allegiant Air has restarted its service to Las Vegas from the Tri-Cities, making it the first to bring back flights canceled during the coronavirus pandemic.
More people are boarding planes at the Tri-Cities Airport as business slowly begins to recover after the coronavirus.
At its lowest, the airport went from 1,200 people flying out of Pasco each day down to 50 to 100 travelers.
“We’ve been to the basement,” said Airport Director Buck Taft. “But we’re not that far off of the basement floor. Maybe only a few steps.”
The airlines have been continuing to operate at the Pasco airport since restrictions started going into place in March. At the lowest point in April, the airport was averaging about 10 people per plane, or about 14 percent capacity.
At the same time last year, airlines were at 75 percent capacity.
Things have started to improve in May, Taft said.
They’re now seeing 20 to 40 people per plane.
The airlines regularly have six flights leave the airport every day, which is up from five flights in the middle of April.
“May has been great compared to April,” he said. “It’s not good by any means, but we’re seeing an uptick.”
This is still lower than the 10 daily flights listed at one point in mid-March, when airlines began restricting the number of flights arriving and leaving the airport.
While they average six flights, the airlines are being flexible depending on how many people are booking flights.
“They’re not blanket bringing flights back,” Taft said.
Delta, Allegiant, Alaska and United, who all offer flights from the Pasco airport, said they have stepped up disinfecting and have limited the number of passengers on their flights.
Delta reported that they are bringing more flights back nationwide in June based on the number of passengers they see. The other airlines have not shared plans on when they might increase flights.
They’ve all reported seeing a 90 percent drop in the number of people flying nationwide.
Rental cars
But the increase is not enough to bring the food service and the rental car businesses back to full staffing, Taft said.
“There’s been a lot of folks not working, and there are some that their hours are cut back,” he said. “There’s not a lot of business going on right now.”
The Port of Pasco has managed to avoid layoffs. They were helped by $5.8 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The airport was one of 62 in the state to share part of the $310 million stimulus package.
The money came from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES), and was aimed at replacing revenue lost after travelers and businesses canceled trips to slow the spread of the virus.
The port collects about $8 per passenger between parking, rental cars, plane ticket fees and food.