PEORIA, Ill. — Delta Airlines service from Peoria has become a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Peoria’s Metropolitan Airport Authority has been notified that as of last week, Delta has changed the suspension of flights to termination.
Airports Director Gene Olson said, “While it doesn’t change anything in the short term, we will have to work hard with the business community to attract Delta back to PIA (Peoria International Airport).”
Nationwide, airports are seeing reduced numbers of flights in response to decreased passenger demand.
PIA’s traffic has dropped dramatically due to the pandemic, from record breaking months in January and February, to a 96% decrease in April, with just over 2,900 passengers.
Through October, PIA has seen just over 276,000 passengers, making 2020 the airport’s worst year since 1973.
Normally PIA would see 115 flights a week in December, but this month, there are only about 36 a week scheduled.
