APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – Officials at Appleton International Airport are optimistic for the future, after a big drop in passenger numbers in 2020.
“It was an odd year,” said Airport Director Abe Weber. “We welcomed about 380,000 passengers through our airport terminal, and we think that’s going to continue to slowly increase in 2021.”
380,154 travelers passed through Appleton International last year. And while that’s a 48% drop from 2019, across the U.S., passengers were down 61% from last year, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Weber says being above the national trend line gives Appleton International a spark of optimism heading into 2021.
“As the year wore on, we saw people coming back to travel – whether to visit family, friends, and relatives or just to get back to the trip that they might have canceled or had to postpone,” Weber told WTAQ News. “National pundits are saying we’ll get back to our 2019 numbers by 2022 or 2023. We’re hopeful we can be ahead of that.”
To protect passengers and elevate the entire experience of flying in and out of Appleton, Appleton International implemented a rigorous improvement plan. The improvements include; cleaning protocols, self-sanitizing stations, touchless key points, improved valet, and most recently an air ionization filtration system and coat check.
A complete list of ATW improvements is available here.
While those changes were targeted towards mitigating the pandemic, Weber believes the plan will actually be beneficial for years to come.
“It all started back in March with the launch of our clean program that really focused on self-sanitizing, social distancing, touchless keypoints,” Weber said. “We installed [what is] kind of the gold standard in air ionization filtration systems. So all of the air moving through our building is being cleaned and it’s protecting our customers to give them that confidence to get back to travel.”
Between the changes in the terminal itself and what airlines themselves have implemented across the country, Weber thinks people will be back in the air sooner, rather than later.
“We’ve seen each airline really improve what they’re doing. Plus, knowing that each airline has adjusted their purchasing policies, eliminated change fees and cancellation fees, that allows people to book now with confidence. And if something comes up, they can change or cancel their trip and really not be penalized,” Weber said. “With great fares out there to warm weather and outdoor places that northeast Wisconsin people want to go to, I think that we’re going to start to see people gain that confidence to start rebooking.”
Allegiant Air reported the smallest passenger decrease of 10% in 2020 compared to the rest of the airlines in Appleton. Allegiant offers affordable fares and nonstop flights to warm weather and outdoor spaces, making them a favorite of Northeast Wisconsin residents. Appleton follows the national trend of people traveling to visit their family, friends, or to get back to travel.
In November, Appleton Airport has added daily nonstop service to Charlotte, North Carolina on American Airlines. This new flight has proven to be popular with people heading to Florida, the Caribbean, or Mexico because of the great connections to popular vacation spots.
