Northwest Down to Four a Day

May 24--Northwest Airlines has reduced the number of flights at Grand Forks International Airport to just four daily flights, the lowest in recent memory.

One incredulous business developer said he had asked a contact in the Twin Cities to come in for a visit and was told the earliest arrival in Grand Forks recently was 12:40 p.m.

With the last flight out at 4:40 p.m. and accounting for security and other delays, that leaves maybe three hours for work, said Bruce Gjovig, director of UND's Center for Innovation. "You can't have a business day that way."

Airport director Steve Johnson said four flights are the lowest number that he can remember. The new schedule started in April because of a shortage of pilots, he said Northwest told him. Northwest cut the flight that it did because the number of passengers was relatively low, he said.

A Northwest spokeswoman contacted after hours said she couldn't get enough information to comment.

Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Grand Forks had seven daily flights. After that deadly day, the number of flights dropped to five and has mostly remained that way.

The fifth flight is scheduled to return around mid-June and mid-August, according to Northwest's Web site.

One mitigating factor is the size of the aircraft used. Three of the aircraft that departed Grand Forks Wednesday were DC-9s, large jets that seat 100 or more. Grand Forks has had DC-9s before but some of those were in the 50 seat range, a category of aircraft the airline had phased out. The other aircraft is a Saab 340, a turboprop aircraft with 33 seats.

Only in mid-July does the schedule show the number of DC-9s drop to just two with two Saab 340s as backup.

Travelers have long griped about Northwest's poor lineup in Grand Forks compared with the four airlines that serve Fargo. While Grand Forks is not growing as quickly as its neighbor to the south, city and business leaders here say it still is growing and they have been flummoxed as to why air service has shrunk.

Northwest officials have countered that they're doing their best in a tough business environment. There simply has not been enough demand to warrant more flights, they have said.

In the meantime, many Grand Forks area travelers have gone to Fargo and beyond in search of better prices and schedules. A study in 2005 found that this so-called "leakage" amount to about a third of the potential customers for the Grand Forks airport.

Currently, airport officials are pursuing a relationship with Denver-based Frontier Airlines but won't find out if they'll get a second airline until the end of June.

Tran reports on City Hall. Reach him at (701) 780-1248 or or see his blog at .

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