Zoey Duncan
It’s no secret that tourists and locals alike rely on American companies to make their travel plans more comfortable and affordable.
Now, with Delta Airlines’ July 15 announcement that they will no longer serve certain small U.S. markets, including International Falls, some tourist destinations are concerned about the impact the change could have on their visitors.
Wayne Helliar of Helliar’s resort in Nestor Falls said he could “easily” see an end to air service in International Falls.
“[The U.S. government is] looking for things to cut these days and, of course, the people that are flying to International Falls are going to Canada,” he said. “It would be not in the U.S. government’s interest to help those people.”
Eric Brown Jr., manager of Totem Lodge in Sioux Narrows, said 30 percent of their guests who fly in, fly through International Falls.
“Quite honestly, the people would just go through Winnipeg [if there was no service to International Falls], but I think it’s more convenient, the ones that can fly to International Falls, because it’s a shorter distance,” Brown said.
Because the majority of their visitors are returning clients, he’s not worried about losing business, but he said he was concerned that Delta was pulling out of a fishing region that has suffered along with the American economy.
“It would actually be kind of unfortunate if Delta’s just seeing what people are flying now because the whole industry is down, I think the whole travel sector is down, especially fishing resorts and eventually as the economy comes back, I would think their flight numbers would grow again.”
Shane Pope of Northwest Flying, also in Nestor Falls, said Falls International Airport is a definite asset, even if it’s not perfect.
“A lot of people use it to come up and access a lot of the camps up here,” he said. “It’s always been a trouble getting that connection with the flights and everything else.
“It’s a good valuable service for sure. I’d hate to see it go away altogether.”
Citing $14 million in annual losses, Delta will pull out of a number of communities and reduce service in others.
Planes out of Falls International Airport are running at 52.5 percent capacity, according to Delta.
But Delta is required to continue service until an alternative carrier takes over, so air service should continue uninterrupted for the time being.
Delta first took over service at Falls International Airport when they merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008 and their flights are now subsidized by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Essential Air Service program. The program subsidizes airports that wouldn’t otherwise get air service because the routes are not profitable.
The future of air service to International Falls could still be in jeopardy though, as Congress debates a bill, the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act, which would see the Essential Air Service subsidies eliminated by Oct. 1, 2013.
Bob Anderson, chair of the International Falls-Koochiching County Airport Commission, said the airport had not used the Essential Air Service program prior to about a year ago.
“Certainly, it’s been a great safety net,” he said. “But we’ve been able to in the past keep our travel [numbers] up here where the folks traveling out of here were able to be in numbers that the airline made money.”
Anderson blamed a “very poor schedule” when Delta was first subsidized by the program that led to customers choosing Duluth and other airports for their flights.
“We had to work with them to get a schedule change and since then we have seen an increase in [travellers] every month.”
Anderson said in the past, between 22-23,000 flew into and out of the airport annually, but that number has now dropped to around 17,000 both flying in and out.
He had planned to meet with other airport representatives yesterday (Aug. 2) in Bemidji to discuss alternatives to the current air service plan, including creating paired communities to make for more efficient service.
While Anderson was confident that a suitable replacement strategy would be found, further north, Helliar was less convinced.
“Government policies have been taking away from tourism for pretty much all my lifetime,” he said. “They just keep taking things away. That thing that goes on with customs there. It’s just horrible.
“It would have a negative impact on our business for sure. What fraction, I don’t know.”