Billings Airport Sees Increase in Freight Traffic as COVID-19 Keeps People Home and Shopping

So much freight is flying through Billings right now that first thing in the morning portions of Billings Logan International Airport look like a cargo plane parking lot.

Usually, 15 small prop planes sit on the pavement waiting to be loaded with boxes that they'll then deliver to all points of the Montana compass — Sidney to Havre to Great Falls to Missoula to Kalispell.

If a Montana resident sitting at home orders something from out of state, that item almost always has to pass through Billings to get to its destination. And with more people at home due to COVID-19, online shopping has seen a distinct increase.

Online retail transactions saw a 74% rise in March compared to the same period last year, according to reporting from the AP. In Billings that's translated to a 25% jump in freight traffic compared to last year.

"They are really busy right now," said Kevin Ploehn, Billings' director of aviation and transit.

Freight arrives in Billings in giant canisters that ride aboard an Airbus A300. The A300, when outfitted for passenger travel, can seat 266 people.

Billings crews unload the canisters and move them to a sorting facility where workers divide up the freight by destination and get it ready to be loaded aboard the 15 smaller cargo planes that will then deliver it across the state.

While that happens, large canisters are being loaded with new freight that will go back aboard the A300 to be shipped to other parts of the country.

That shuffling of freight going in and out of Billings requires vast amounts of warehouse space at the airport, and some days the airport simply doesn't have enough, Ploehn said.

"They bring in all this extra freight and then have no place to stick it," he said.

The extra business has been good for the airport. A portion of the revenue that funds the airport comes in the form of landing fees paid by the airlines and shipping companies that fly into Billings. (Other sources of revenue include fees from the rental car companies that operate out of the airport and parking fees.)

With passenger travel at a near-standstill, airport staff has been grateful for an increase in freight traffic, which has helped keep employees at work and brought in a small amount of revenue.

"It's just good to have some busyness," Ploehn said.

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