Jan. 19—Commercial passenger departures rose 200% at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport in 2021, compared with the previous year when travel fell dramatically at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 30,721 passengers left on flights from Lewiston in 2021, said Airport Director Michael Isaacs at a Tuesday meeting of the airport authority board.
Of those, 3,630 were in December when passenger volume was also 200% higher than December 2020, he said.
United's Lewiston- Denver flights were running 77% full in the last month of the year after debuting in October. Delta's Lewiston- Salt Lake City flights were at 80% capacity, Isaacs said.
"December was a fantastic month for airline traffic," he said. "Both of them are running strong."
Each airline only had to cancel a single arrival and departure in the last two weeks of December, Isaacs said.
A United pilot circled 11 times between Lewiston and Grangeville hoping for a break in the weather before landing in the Tri-Cities, said Airport Board Chairman Gary Peters.
The community was pounded with snow during that time, which included Dec. 30, when Lewiston set a record for the day with 7.2 inches of snow, according to National Weather Service archives.
Airport employees worked almost around the clock keeping the runways clear. Isaacs pitched in running equipment several times.
"The new staff did a really good job," he said. "They had a steep learning curve."
In other business, the board approved a contract with T-O Engineers for about $200,000 start design work for an upgrade to expand the airport's capacity for corporate and private hangars.
The airport is pursuing the project because of demand, Isaacs said.
He has fielded six requests from potential tenants.
An initial phase could be finished as early as this year. It would involve removing rock from a 15-acre section on the airport's south side to make it more flat for taxiways as well as installing taxiways and utilities that would serve about half of the 15 acres, he said.
The first part of the project has room for about a dozen hangars. Future phases would have space for about 15 more hangars. The airport's plans call for the hangars to be anywhere from 1,600 square feet to 10,000 square feet, but the number and dimensions of the buildings could change based on tenant preferences.
"I'm excited for this," said board member Katie Seekins. "It will help the commercial development side of it."
Williams may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2261.
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