RFD Airport Board, Director, And Staff Find Airline In Just 52 Hours
When Direct Air abruptly suspended operations to the 17 airports it operated at last Tuesday, the charter carrier stranded thousands of passengers who had either bought tickets for future flights or were stranded at their destinations with no way to get home.
Of those 17 airports, only two, Rockford and Springfield, did anything to help Direct Air's passengers. The board and staff at Chicago Rockford International Airport sprang into action. After all, RFD sells itself as the "no hassle" airport. Being stranded by a defunct airline is the ultimate hassle.
The goal was: Get another airline to serve the popular route to Punta Gorda, Fla., and do it fast.
And they did. Instead of forming a blue-ribbon task force and hiring a consultant, they buckled down and worked late into the nights. Within 52 hours of Direct Air's shutdown, RFD's Mike Dunn, airport director, announced that they'd found a new carrier, Vision Airlines, to operate the route, not to Punta Gorda, where Direct Air went, but to an even better nearby destination, Fort Myers.
Dunn and the board signed up Vision to run 14 round-trip flights on Mondays and Fridays through the remaining vacation season. The first Boeing 767 took off Monday morning.
Congratulations to Dunn and the other hardworking RFD staff and board members who also pitched in to solve the problem. This high-spirited teamwork showed a spirit of cooperation that now drives everyone at the airport.
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