By: Andrew Braun
December 18, 2020
In Wilmington, the issue of travel during the pandemic has been quite pertinent to Wilmington International Airport (colloquially known as “ILM” for its IATA airport code). As a major necessity to the travel industry that fuels the Cape Fear Region, ILM has been a beacon of attention for the community. While the pandemic has raged on, the airport has seen some good news.
As the airport continues on with its multiphase, $61 million terminal expansion plan, it was announced back in July that the airport had secured $21 million for the third and final phase of the expansion. A considerable absence of passengers in the terminal area has made for an expedited construction process. More recently in the expansion, numerous pieces of local art are planned to be incorporated into the new halls of the airport by summer of 2021.
Additionally, new talks of route expansion have loomed around the airport this fall as ILM’s route network expands around the nation. American Airlines, the airport’s largest carrier, plans to begin offering nonstop flights to Boston, an endeavour which was supposed to commence in May of this year.
ILM Airport serves as an ever-growing air travel destination on the East Coast for those wishing to access Wilmington’s numerous surrounding beach communities. Also, because it is located roughly halfway between Miami and New York City, has much less customs activity, and features two sufficiently long runways, ILM is an attractive place of global entry for private and charter flights of international origin. The world’s three largest air carriers, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines, currently provide scheduled passenger air service at ILM.
Despite the arriving remedy of highly effective COVID-19 vaccinations, many travelers are still apprehensive about making journeys through crowded airports and on packed planes. An international survey conducted in November 2020 found that while 60% of passengers feel that the airline industry has responded adequately to the current circumstances as the aviation industry continues to make strides in managing the pandemic such as by offering on-site testing at various airports. In the same research, however, only ⅓ of those surveyed report having traveled since the beginning of the pandemic.
Not unlike all other participants in the aviation industry, ILM Airport took a drastic hit when the pandemic initially surged through the United States. The airport saw passenger numbers plummet back in April as it reported a 96% decrease in traffic. Fortunately, the airport later received $20 million in federal funding to manage the pandemic per Congress’ CARES Act.
To beef up its standing in the fight against the coronavirus, ILM has implemented a number of distinctive safety measures in addition to those now-standard ones that are seen in our everyday lives. As part of the “ILM Safe Travels” initiative described on its website, the airport has done things such as stopped accepting cash in parkings lots, installed plexiglass barriers between passengers and employees, and even modified restaurant menus to decrease wait times and crowds that would otherwise accumulate in restaurants.
Slowly but surely, ILM’s passenger numbers have been improving. Over the last several months, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines have all brought back parts of the ILM schedule that were originally affected in April. In preparation for the holiday travel season, officials have a set goal of filling flights 50% of their capacity through the end of the year.
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