Dubuque Regional Airport's only commercial carrier will end service to the airport later this summer.
American Airlines "has made the difficult decision to end service" to Dubuque and three other cities due to a shortage of pilots, a spokesperson confirmed to the Telegraph Herald. Service will end on Sept. 7.
"We’ll proactively reach out to customers scheduled to travel after this date to offer alternate arrangements," said the emailed statement.
The other cities losing air service are Toledo, Ohio; Islip, N.Y.; and Ithaca, N.Y.
In a press release, Dubuque officials said they were notified this morning of American Airlines' intention to file a notice to stop serving Dubuque.
In an interview with the TH, Airport Director Todd Dalsing said his team had been closely following similar announcements across the airline industry.
"There have been multiple announcements between American (Airlines), United, Delta," he said. "There were 29 small cities United or SkyWest dropped service to back in March. Ever since the pandemic, the Regional Airline Association says that 29 regional airports have lost commercial service."
Dalsing said the airport will continue to try to work with American Airlines.
"We have been partners for a long time," he said. "We’ll look into any alternative solutions we can come up with. But as of right now, they’re saying it’s not a suspension."
Early in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led American to suspend flights to Dubuque. Dalsing said this announcement is different.
"They specifically then said it was a suspension and that it would come back," he said. "Now, even with the high cost of the fuel, they say it is not a revenue issue, that it is completely a pilot shortage issue. This is affecting all carriers nationwide. This will not be a quick fix. Some (experts) are forecasting that the pilot shortage could last for years or more."
Dalsing emphasized in the press release that the airport will continue to function and that efforts will continue to add a commercial carrier that offers "westbound air service" — referencing a $775,000 federal grant to establish a flight to and from Denver, Colo.
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Dalsing told the TH that goal will be more challenging, though.
"That’s still in play," he said. "We still have a Small Community Air Service Development grant with the U.S. Department of Transportation to expand westbound service. But as long as there’s a pilot shortage, we won’t see too many airlines adding service."
Dalsing stressed in the release that "the airport is not closed."
"We have robust general aviation with multiple corporate and private aircraft, including the University of Dubuque," he said. "We host numerous events such as the July 3rd Airshow, Major League Baseball, North American Trainers Association, Experimental Aircraft Association and Honor Flights. We still have Sun Country Airlines destinational charters, and we continue to meet with legacy and low-cost carriers.”
In Dubuque, airport and business leaders had been urgently asking local companies and residents to use the airport in an effort to avoid losing service.
In a presentation to the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors in May, Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Molly Grover and Dalsing highlighted a suite of industrywide patterns that are bad news for local commercial air service.
They noted that airlines are phasing out the kind of 50-seat jets that fly in and out of Dubuque twice a day.
“We know that American Airlines, our current commercial carrier, is retiring half their 50-seat fleet by fall of 2022,” Grover said at that time. “Certainly, that’s a huge challenge.”
Also, like many industries, commercial airlines face significant staffing shortages.
“Since the pandemic started, over 50,000 airline employees — many of those pilots — are no longer with the airlines as they were pre-COVID,” Grover said last month. “You can do a lot of things in the airline industry to adapt. But the one thing you can’t do when you have pilot shortages is fly planes.”
This story will be updated.