Pandemic Prompts Boardings Plunge, Safety Measures at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport

Nov. 13—EAU CLAIRE — Air travel took off early this year at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, with the number of people getting on and off commercial flights up 23% through February.

But that upward trajectory changed course abruptly when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in mid-March and passengers became skittish about flying.

Operations — a combination of boardings and deplanings — were down 52% in March from the same month in 2019 at the airport and then plummeted in April to a mere 133, down 96% from 3,414 a year earlier.

Airport activity has risen slightly in every ensuing month until suffering a slight dip in October when COVID-19 cases were surging in Wisconsin, but commercial operations still totaled only 16,947 through October, down 59% from the same 10 months of 2019, despite a decline of only 9% in scheduled takeoffs and landings.

Meanwhile, as airport officials ride out the coronavirus turbulence, they are working to make the facility safer for people who still need or want to fly during the pandemic.

"Even during a pandemic, air transportation is still a critical travel option for people," said Charity Zich, Chippewa Valley Regional Airport director. "We're doing everything we can to make our facility as safe as possible for the traveling public."

The Eau Claire airport took a key step in that direction this week when it announced that it has added new equipment to its air handling system to prevent coronavirus pathogens from spreading in its passenger terminal.

The bipolar ionization system, commonly used in hospitals, creates a high concentration of ions to attach to pathogens and render them inactive. It also disinfects surfaces and prevents the spread of other germs such as the common cold.

"Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been committed to making improvements to ensure we are continuing to provide a safe airport facility for travelers and people working at the airport," Zich said.

The airport previously implemented more frequent disinfection of surfaces, added more dispensers for hand sanitizing gel and increased the use of touch-free technology. It is in the process of installing touch-free paper towel dispensers and water bottle filling stations.

Yet Zich understands that all of the airport safety measures in the world won't make everyone comfortable with travel right now, especially with COVID-19 cases spiking locally and public health officials encouraging people to stay home as much as possible to limit their chances of contracting or spreading the virus that as of Thursday had infected 10,466 people and killed 70 in Eau Claire, Chippewa and Dunn counties this year.

"While at the end of the day, I think we all understand we're safest at this point when we're at home and not out in community, there are still people who have to travel right now for work or for critical family situations and it's important for us to provide the safest and healthiest facility we can for those people."

Risk assessment

Despite what people might think, Zich said, studies show a low risk of inflight transmission of the virus.

The International Air Transport Association last month reported that since the start of 2020 there had been 44 cases of COVID-19 identified in which transmission is thought to have been associated with a flight journey.

With roughly 1.2 billion passengers traveling during that time, that equates to one case for every 27 million passengers, the IATA said.

Contributing factors to the low incidence of inflight transmission, according to research by airplane manufacturers, include limited face-to-face interactions among passengers, seat backs acting as a physical barrier to air movement from one row to another, the use of HEPA air filters and the high rate of fresh air coming into the cabin. Air is exchanged 20 to 30 times per hour on board most aircraft, which compares favorably with the averages for office space (two to three times per hour) and schools (10 to 15 times per hour), the IATA reported.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though it hasn't wavered from its stance that travel increases people's chances of getting and spreading COVID-19, has agreed that viruses and germs don't spread easily on flights because of how air circulates and is filtered on planes. But the agency maintains social distancing is difficult on crowded flights, and sitting within 6 feet of others, sometimes for hours, may increase people's risk of getting COVID-19.

The CDC also has pointed to the time travelers spend in security lines and airport terminals as potential risks because that can bring them in close contact with other people and frequently touched surfaces.

That highlights a potential advantage of smaller, less crowded regional terminals such as Chippewa Valley Regional Airport where it's much easier to practice social distancing than in large metro airports, Zich said.

Fortunately for the airport, Zich said, private aviation has remained strong through the pandemic, with total takeoffs and landings down only 14% in the first 10 months of this year and an even smaller percentage in October. Likewise, though income from parking and passenger facility charges is down, airport revenue hasn't suffered too much because rents for hangars, car rental agencies and the Hangar 54 Grill are fixed, she said.

The airport also received federal CARES Act funding to help offset pandemic-related revenue losses and keep all of its workers employed.

Interest rising

The comfort level of travelers with mask wearing and sharing space with other people on airplanes varies widely, said Denise Petricka, president of Higgins Travel Leaders in Eau Claire.

Some travelers have no reservations about flying amid the pandemic, while many others are waiting until COVID-19 cases diminish and the environment seems safer.

The sharp drop-off in bookings has been devastating to travel agents, who get no commissions until customers complete their trips, said Petricka, who is beginning to see signs of light in a dreary year.

"Things do look a little better lately. I'm encouraged by the number of calls we're getting," she said. "We are booking some stuff, but it's certainly not what it should be."

Many callers are inquiring about cruises or European vacations, even though the cruise industry hasn't reopened and Europe remains closed to American visitors.

"A lot of people talk about pandemic fatigue, and I can tell you it's real," Petricka said. "People are just itching to go someplace."

Petricka said she recently returned from a vacation to Mexico in which she said everyone wore masks in airports and on planes and her airline followed strict sanitization procedures, prompting her to declare, "I have never felt more safe."

Unlike after past air travel disruptions, leisure travel appears to be recovering faster than business travel, Petricka and Zich agreed.

While businesses are often able to rely on video conferencing to replace face-to-face meetings and sometimes can't afford the recommended 14-day quarantines for employees after flights, leisure travelers are just eager for a vacation after a tough year, Petricka said.

Looking forward, Petricka and Zich both said there is no way to know when air travel will bounce back. In the meantime, Zich is doing whatever she can to make the local airport safer and Petricka is following the mantra of "dream now, travel later" in encouraging vacationers to plan the trips they want to take once they feel it's safe to depart.

"It may be years until the travel industry is all the way back, but I do believe it will come back," Petricka said. "And when it does, whether it's a vaccine or whatever factor that ignites it, we're going to be inundated. That pent-up demand will be coming at us, and we'll be ready."

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