Covid Fallout: American Suspending October Kalamazoo Flights

Unless something changes, reports say American Airlines will suspend flights out of Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport from October 3rd to November 3rd. Lack of passenger traffic and lack of Covid relief money is the reason being given.

Kalamazoo is one of 15 airports affected by American's decision. American earlier this year received almost $6 Billion in Cares Act funding, with the stipulation in the Act that airlines receiving the money keep at least a minimum level of service until the end of September.

MIBiz says Kalamazoo airport officials say traffic is picking up but has been down up to 75% at times, during the pandemic. The story says the airport's focus on business travelers has to have been greatly affected by the pandemic and with so many employees working from and the enormous growth of platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Meanwhile, United Airlines is set to resume service to Kalamazoo on October, having suspended flights for the past three months. The MIBiz story also says even as they were planning for this suspension of service, American and Delta Airlines were beginning to increase the number of flights in and out of Kalamazoo.