CANTON, Ohio There's virtually no traffic inside the Akron-Canton Airport. Airline ticket counters are empty and TSA lines have little to no wait times.
- Akron-Canton Airport officials say air traffic is down 95 percent
- Pre-pandemic, the airport was averaging 25 flights a day, and now it's seeing only 3-4
- Safety measures are in place throughout the airport
What You Need To Know
"What we're seeing through here, specifically through Akron Canton's airport, is our traffic's down 95 percent from what it was a year ago, so huge, huge reduction and that's across the board," said Renato Camacho, president/CEO, Akron-Canton Airport.
Pre-pandemic, the airport was averaging about 25 flights a day. Now it's seeing only three to four flights a day.
"And even those flights are not full, they're like maybe 20-25 passengers on the flight, and it's been a little bit of an uptick recently in the last week or so. But, like in late March and early April, we were seeing flights with maybe five passengers on them," said Camacho.
Camacho says safety measures are now in place at the airport to keep staff and travelers safe. Acrylic shields have been installed at ticket counters and security checkpoints, hundreds of social distancing markers are in place and all airport employees are required to wear face masks.
"Since the pandemic, we've added additional measures, with additional cleaning of our restrooms, of what we call the high touch point areas, whether it's, you know, elevator buttons, escalators, the ticket counter areas, the main common areas and working with our partners like the airlines, the TSA and the concessionaires to make sure that those high touch points are all sanitized," said Camacho.
At John Glenn Columbus International Airport, it's seeing a 93 percent decline in airport travel. An average of 850 passengers fly out of CMH on a daily basis, which is more than double the amount from a month ago.
Airport officials expect air traffic to pick up as states slowly reopen, but returning to pre-pandemic numbers will be challenging.
"People are just not willing to fly right now, they're not considering it safe and obviously it's been detrimental effect to the service industry, the airlines are suffering.I think if we get to like 30 or 40 perent more traffic than where we are today, say by the end of the year, I think that'll be a victory," said Camacho.
Corporate business travel is a massive industry. Camacho says a key component to rebounding for the Akron-Canton Aiport is getting the local business community back on board.
"Where do they want to travel, either through this pandemic or post pandemic whether it's six months from now or two years from now, so that then we can take that information and hand it off to the airlines. The first premise for any airport is to make sure you retain existing service and then how can we build upon that, so we have to be mindful of all of those factors to ensure that we can rebound and rebound quickly."