ASHWAUBENON, Wis. — Flying to work in Pennsylvania is part of Mitch Carr’s job in the vinyl flooring industry.
The Two Rivers resident flew during the pandemic, but not as much as he once did.
“I’m back and forth now every couple of months and then I get to stay here a little longer,” Carr said shortly after arriving at Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport.
He’s seen the number of flyers increase over the past two years.
“Now it seems like travel is back to normal,” he said. “Planes are full. It’s a little tougher. Schedules are tighter. There are a lot of people. It just seems like if things aren’t back to normal, they are very, very close.”
They’re getting there. Marty Piette, director of Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport, said it saw a 15% increase in the number of passengers from 2021 to 2022.
Those numbers are at about 95% of the 2019 total, he said.
“As expected, the business traveler is not coming back quite as quickly as the leisure traveler, so all the growth we’re seeing is being driven by the leisure traveler,” Piette said.
Appleton International Airport and Milwaukee Mitchell Airport officials said they both saw a roughly 20% increase in passengers last year.
“I think we’ll see another increase this year over 2022 then we’re also seeing some changes in the industry as far as larger aircraft coming into Green Bay so that gives us more availability and more seats for people to get in and out of the community,” Piette said.
Carr said he’s glad to see more people on planes. It’s good for the airlines and good for business. But it’s also altered some of his pandemic-induced travel habits.
“Before I could get a seat and move around the whole plane if I wanted to,” he said with a laugh. “Those days are over.”