When Kent and Stacey Woolsey want to get away from their Ardoch, N.D., home, they always fly out of Grand Forks.
Convenience is everything for the couple, who said sometimes paying a slightly higher fare is not a detriment when they leave town.
"It sure beats the hour-and-a-half drive to Fargo," Kent Woolsey said Tuesday after arriving at the airport from a trip to Los Angeles.
The attitude is common among local frequent fliers, but fewer people are flying in and out of the Grand Forks International Airport, according to figures released this week by the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission.
Boarding numbers are down nearly 21 percent in Grand Forks based on numbers from April compared with 2016. There were 8,507 passengers who boarded flights in Grand Forks this April, down from 10,794 in April 2016. For the year, boarding numbers in Grand Forks are down 15.8 percent, from 48,136 in 2016 to 40,503 in so far in 2017.
ADVERTISEMENT
The number of people flying out of Devils Lake rose 18.5 percent in 2017, continuing growth the airport saw in 2016 when it added a direct flight to Denver. Fargo also experienced 2 percent growth over the year.
Airport officials cited a declining Canadian dollar and federal subsidies for essential air service directed to regional airports in Devils Lake and Thief River Falls, Minn., as reasons for decline in Grand Forks. Devils Lake has seen more boardings in the last year since offering direct flights to Denver, and Thief River Falls had a similar boost when it started regular flights to the Twin Cities.
"It's very difficult to attract people," said Grand Forks County Commissioner and Airport Authority Board member Gary Malm. "We have some leakage to Fargo and Devils Lake."
The Airport Authority Board is always trying to attract more customers to Grand Forks, but it's not always easy.
"Things are all hitting at the same time," Malm said.
To fight leakage out of Grand Forks, Airport Authority Board Chairman Karl Bollingberg said the commissioners try to pressure Delta Airlines to keep fares out of Fargo and Grand Forks relatively close as to prevent a competitive disadvantage.
Bollingberg said the airport is in a tough spot, because many of the factors contributing to the decline are out of their control: the weak Canadian dollar and essential air service funding to two airports within 100 miles of Grand Forks.
UND student James Richman grew up in the Fargo area and said he typically flies from there. But he found a good fare out of Grand Forks for his trip to Los Angeles.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Usually Fargo is cheaper, but this time it was cheaper here," Richman said.
It's the first time he's flown out of Grand Forks this year.
