Airplane travel has been reduced by 70% due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Pixabay
Airplane travel has been reduced by 70% due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Pixabay
American Airlines said service to Dubuque Regional Airport and 14 other U.S. cities will be halted starting in October as the airline is seeing low demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, which will include all three daily flights to Dubuque.
“It didn’t come as a surprise, but I was hoping we would never get to this point,” Dubuque Mayor Roy Buol told the Telegraph Herald. “Hopefully, it’s just a month that we’re looking at.”
Airlines have been able to keep paying their workers and offering flights because of federal aid relief, of which, American Airlines received $10.7 billion in March.
“You look at the big picture, and all of the airlines are suffering,” Buol told the Telegraph Herald. “They’ve been able to keep flights going thanks to the funding that they got from Washington. They have a lot of capacity but low demand, and the airline industry is demand-driven.”
But with travel down by 70%, the airline chose to reduce flights. When demand rises, Dubuque Regional Airport Director Todd Dalsing said changes will be made.
“That is all going to be based on demand,” he told the Telegraph Herald. “As demand increases, so will air service.”
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