American Airlines provides the only commercial service at the Dubuque Regional Airport. So, city officials and leaders in the area are extremely disappointed about the company's decision.
Rick Dickinson is the President of the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation. He says the major carriers received 55 billion dollars from the government to recover from COVID-19. And he has no problem with that. But American and Delta used the money to finance early retirement for senior pilots then didn't hold flight school for new pilots.
And Dickinson says Waterloo will gain an American flight the day after service ends in Dubuque, so there's still a pilot in that seat.
Since the major airlines are subsidized by taxpayer dollars, Dickinson says the government should require that any Market Service Area (MSA) with a population of 50,000 or more, be guaranteed commercial service.
In addition, Dubuque, the State of Iowa, and the federal government recently invested $25 million to improve the Dubuque airport.
After American ends service in Dubuque, passengers will have to drive at least 70 miles to board a commercial flight.
