It's been a long time since anyone at the Grand Forks International Airport could declare a record year -- Sixteen years to be exact. -- but airport director Patrick Dame had that honor Tuesday.
Counting all the departing passengers that day, the airport has had 100,570 boardings, one more than the record achieved in all 12 months in 1994.
By the end of 2010, Dame said he expects to have 117,000 boardings. "Not only are we going to break it -- we're going to shatter the record."
He credited more flights from Delta Air Lines, the main airline in Grand Forks, better transition times in Delta's Twin Cities hub and the popularity of Allegiant Air's flights to Las Vegas and Phoenix. The airport has even seen more traffic from Canada, he said.
Things have been pretty tough for the airport during most of this decade, even before the Sept. 11 airline-based attacks and the recessions that followed. Boardings topped 90,000 only twice: Once in 2004 and again last year when Allegiant had its first full year of flights. Airport officials were deeply worried about locals leaving for airports in other cities and giving Delta fewer reasons to maintain the number of flights.
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Boardings are important to the airport because that's what keeps it viable. Fewer boardings would force airlines to cut services, which then gives passengers fewer reasons to fly out of Grand Forks, starting a downward spiral. Conversely, more boardings give airlines more reasons to add service, according to Dame.
Federal funding formulas also are dependent on boardings, he said, so more boardings means more money for facility improvements.
Reach Tran at (701) 780-1248; (800) 477-6572, ext. 248; or send e-mail to ttran@gfherald.com .
