Airport manager Amos details coronavirus effects, looks to future

Katrina Amos has worked at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport since 2008 and became its manager in late January, following the 22-year tenure of now-retired Bruce Loy.

Amos, a Sikeston, Missouri, native, stepped into the job just before COVID-19 sunk its tentacles into every facet of life.

"Aviation is one of the hardest hit of all industries," said Amos, who said passenger volume -- what the government calls "enplanements" -- has dropped 70% to 90% since the spring.

The pandemic has had a chilling effect on flying the friendly skies.

In early March, the month when schools began to transition to virtual learning and when the terms mask-wearing and social distancing began to become household phrases, a devastating impact was noted on the city-operated airport once known as Harris Field.

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager Katrina Amos poses for a portrait near a jet Wednesday at the airport in Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel

"We had 484 departures (in March)," said Amos, down from 909 from the same month in 2019, a 47% drop.

The following month was even more stark, as passenger volume dropped to almost nothing.

"We had just 51 departures in April (2020)," said Amos, who noted year-to-year the figure represented a nearly 95% decline from April 2019's 951 takeoffs.

The numbers are rebounding somewhat.

Monthly enplanements for July through September have flirted with the 400 mark.

September's mark of 368 departures is a 64% drop from the same month in 2019.

The Cape Girardeau airport, like other facilities worldwide, will be a long time recovering from the dampening effects of novel coronavirus.

On Monday, the Cape Girardeau City Council was advised by Cincinnati-based aviation consultant Nick Brown to buckle up for a rough ride.

"We expect it will take (the Cape Girardeau airport) two years to recover from the pandemic," Brown said.

Essential Air Service

In 1979, when the federal government deregulated the airline industry, Congress established Essential Air Service (EAS) to subsidize flights to the smallest U.S. airports.

EAS was meant to last only 10 years, but in 1996 was extended in perpetuity during the Clinton administration.

The thinking was that small airports do not have enough demand to maintain commercial service.

For more than 40 years, federal subsidies have ensured air travel continues in markets such as Cape Girardeau.

According to a 2016 estimate, every commercial flight out of Cape Girardeau was subsidized to the tune of $187.75 per passenger.

Chicago

Since December 2017, commercial flights out of Cape Girardeau began to be flown to Chicago's O'Hare Airport via SkyWest (United).

The city came to a new two-year agreement with SkyWest in 2019.

In the past, commercial flights have left Cape Girardeau bound for St. Louis and for a brief period, 2005 and 2006, to Cincinnati.

Good news

"We exceeded 10,000 enplanements in 2019," said Amos, who noted this qualified the Cape Girardeau airport for a designation as a "primary" airport.

"A primary airport means we became eligible for $1 million in airport improvement funding from the [Federal Aviation Administration," she said.

Despite the steep COVID drop off this year, Amos said FAA money could still be in the offing.

"If the FAA thinks we were on track to hit 10,000 again before COVID hit, we could be considered a 'virtual' primary airport," she said.

Another feather in the cap is that the Cape Girardeau airport is relatively free of debt.

"The benefit in our low-debt status is, when we do get federal help, either through the FAA or the [Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security] Act, we don't have to use it all for operational costs but for future growth and development," Amos, 38, said.

An update to the Terminal Area Master Plan (TAMP) was presented to the City Council this week and as much as $25.34 million may be available for infrastructure needs, such as a new or renovated passenger terminal, new hangars, a control tower and an expanded airport maintenance facility.

The lion's share of the money, $17.39 million, is expected to come from the CARES Act.

Through all the turmoil of the last eight months since COVID, Amos said she feels blessed to be in her current role.

"I love it here, all the challenges -- I mean it," she said, adding that one day she would like the chance to pilot an aircraft.

"Not anytime soon, though," said Amos, a married mother of three.

"I'm far too busy," she added.