CIRA passenger numbers up 27% last month

Posted on April 21, 2021
Central Illinois Regional Airport Deputy Director Fran Strebing says there were extra flights on Allegiant and Frontier to Florida and American and Delta saw increases in traffic. (Facebook/Central Illinois Regional Airport)

 

By Neil Doyle

BLOOMINGTON – A local airport says passenger numbers last month were the highest they’ve been since the start of the pandemic.

Fran Strebing is the deputy director at Central Illinois Regional Airport.

“We saw an increase of 27% in terms of passengers through the building compared to March of 2020,” Strebing told WJBC’s Scott Miller. “I think there was some pent up demand, people had been staying at home and not doing much. The weather changed, the vaccinations began, and people were feeling more confident. It traditionally is a busy month for us with spring break.”

Strebing says leisure travel has picked up significantly, but business travel has still been down.

Trends so far for summer travel look positive as people are booking flights further out than they had been during the height of the pandemic, said Strebing.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…