American Airlines joins United in decreasing flights out of Columbia Regional Airport
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia Airport Manager Michael Parks confirmed with ABC 17 News that American Airlines is set to reduce the number of flights out of Columbia Regional Airport (COU) beginning in February.
The move comes months after a news release announced United Airlines would also reduce flights out of the airport beginning Jan. 4.
Both United and American said the reasoning for the reduction is directly due to limited staffing and resources due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
According to COU's website, December 2021 saw an increase of nearly 150% in passengers coming and going compared to the previous year.
The data, however, also shows both January and February of last year were slow months for the airport with the monthly total down 72% in January and 75.8% in February.
Parks also said February is traditionally the slowest month of the year for passenger numbers in Columbia.
COU's new runway was completed in December. The airport is still on track to complete its new terminal by the summer of 2022.