HIGHFILL -- Traffic at Northwest Arkansas National Airport continued to increase incrementally during October and saw a bump around Thanksgiving, according to airport officials.
October enplanements were 31,367, up from 25,453 in September, but down 64% from the 86,554 in October 2019, according to the airlines.
More travelers flew out of the airport during the Thanksgiving holiday than have been, according to how many passed through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, but the increase happened when health officials were advising against traveling to combat the covid-19 pandemic.
Aaron Burkes, airport chief executive officer, said traffic has been stable for the past four months with very gradual improvement.
"The strong Thanksgiving traffic provides more evidence that people are interested in traveling for leisure. Airfares are very low, and having fewer passengers in airports and on planes makes the whole travel experience a little easier," Burkes said.
"The latest round of travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders in other states adversely affects travel here. We anticipate fairly stable passenger numbers for the next few months until infection rates decline and travel restrictions are removed. Christmas holiday travel might also give an unanticipated boost to enplanements," he said.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn't want Americans to travel over Thanksgiving, but that didn't stop everyone.
A record was set Nov. 29 for the number of travelers who passed through U.S. airport checkpoints during a single day of the pandemic. The federal agency counted nearly 1.2 million travelers that Sunday.
More than 1 million travelers were counted each day on Friday, Sunday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The agency hit that milestone only one other time, on Oct. 18, since the coronavirus pandemic began more than eight months ago.
At Northwest National, 1,404 people passed through checkpoints Nov. 29, down 57.8% from the same day in 2019.
Northwest's biggest day of the holiday week was Nov. 22 when 1,667 went through the checkpoint, a decline of 35.4% from the same day last year. More than 1,200 passengers were counted each of the other days the agency broke 1 million passengers.
Last year, the federal agency reported 2.8 million travelers passed through checkpoints nationwide Dec. 1, the Sunday following the holiday. It marked the busiest day of the 2019 Thanksgiving season and set a record for the busiest day in the agency's 18-year history.
Back to the Future
Members of Northwest National's Operations Committee on Wednesday discussed planned capital improvement projects given the challenges of fewer flyers, which means less revenue to pay for projects.
Most projects will likely be designed and then put on hold until needed, when flyers return to more prepandemic numbers, according to airport officials. Those projects include a western concourse, arrivals lobby and baggage claim area, rental car facility, control tower and taxiway.
Committee members said Wednesday a skybridge from the parking deck to the second floor of the terminal and related improvements inside could go ahead in 2021. Those include new elevators and escalators and a renovated building facade.
The project is 90% along in design and construction documents should be ready to send to potential bidders in February. Committee members reasoned it might be easier to do the work without the crowds.
Burkes said the strongest argument for going ahead with the skybridge is the impact the work will have on customers.
"It's going to be a lot of work just to keep the flow of people around all that construction safe. We're at about a third of the passengers we normally have so doing it now, there's a real benefit to doing that," he said.
Kelly Johnson, airport chief operating officer, said she needs new elevators and escalators.
"I'm dealing with a maintenance department that is trying to keep running two, 22-year-old escalators and a single elevator, and when one of those devices goes out, we are in a world of hurt," Johnson said. "Granted, we have a lot less passengers right now, and we can limp along, but we've dumped $82,000 or $83,000 into those escalators just this year because of pretty significant failures. The elevator is the one that is really critical."
Johnson said when the elevator malfunctions, wheelchair passengers have to be taken outside, around the building and inside to access another elevator to the second floor where they can get to the checkpoint.
"When that happens, it's a significant impact not only to the customer -- sometimes they're running late, we've had people that have missed their flights," Johnson said. "But, it's also a significant impact to the airlines who've got to take the staff away from the ticket counter to push these people around. To me, that's the important piece we need to focus on."
Total budget for the project is about $31.5 million, most of which would be reimbursable from the Federal Aviation Administration. Burkes speculated the airport might get some more favorable bids because of economic conditions.
Burkes said staff believe at least the inside work should be done in 2021.
Separating the inside and outside work would require removing the front of the building and replacing it twice, which would be an added expense, Burkes said.
Mike Johnson, a board member, said he'd like to put the whole skybridge project out for bids and see what happens. If bids are too high, the project could be pulled back, split up and rebid.
"Let's just throw the whole enchilada out there and see what we can do," Mike Johnson said.
Ron Wood can be reached by email at rwood@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWARDW.