Passenger numbers down 53% at Dayton International

That represents a 52.7% drop from the 359,117 passenger enplanements as of May 2019.

In the month of May, the Dayton airport saw 9,587 passenger enplanements — down 88.3% from 81,699 in May 2019.

American Airlines was down nearly 49% year to date at the Dayton airport. Delta is down 57% so far this year, and United Airlines is down nearly 56%.

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Cargo tonnage is also down, but it has not been as affected. Air cargo at the DAY airport was recorded as a little over 2,822 tons year-to-date as of May 2020. That’s down 17.5 percent from the nearly 3,422 tons recorded at the same point last year.

In the month of May alone, cargo tons were put at 500.35, down 34.6% from the 765.42 tons recorded in May last year.

COVID-19 has dramatically dampened air travel across the nation and the world. Typically in April and May, about 2.4 million people are air travel passengers each day.

For the week that ended April 17, 2020, the count was only 95,161 per day, the New York Times recently reported. For the week ended May 17, the count was 212,580 per day, the Times said.

Dayton International Airport employees have been asked to consider leaving the city’s employment for at least three years, airport staff said in April.

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“In an effort to reduce the airport’s personnel expenses, the city of Dayton offered airport employees an opportunity to participate in a voluntary separation program,” Gilbert Turner, Dayton interim aviation director, said at the time.

If enough airport employees accept the incentives, layoffs at the airport may not be necessary, Turner said in April.

At the time, the airport had 122 employees. The goal was to reduce the number of airport employees down to about 86 employees.

In response to questions sent to him Monday morning, Turner said he would be available to comment later.

“Experts estimate it could take as long as 30 months to fully recover just to 2019 levels,” Turner said in April. “Taking actions now to reduce expenses will ensure the Dayton Airport can remain financially stable for future recovery and growth.”