The shutdowns connected to the coronavirus outbreak have slowed local air traffic to the point where a plane landing or taking off has become a rare event.
Managers of the Goshen and Elkhart airports, which are municipal airports, both said Thursday the shutdowns have grounded corporate jets, flight instructions and a lot of recreational flights.
“General aviation, we have never seen anything like this since post-9/11,” said Randy Sharkey, manager of the Goshen airport. “This reminds me a lot of post-9/11 because we are not seeing any air traffic at all.”
After the attack Sept. 11, 2001, on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93, all civil aviation was grounded for days after the attack.
The Goshen airport is the 10th largest general aviation airport in the state, Sharkey said.
“We are down 90% to 95%,” he added of air traffic at the airport.
In Elkhart, much the same is occurring.
“Not much, that is what we are seeing,” Dave Pixey, manager of the Elkhart airport, said.
He estimated that air traffic is just 10% of what it was before the pandemic struck.
On a normal day there would be around 90 flight plans a day filed for the airport as a destination or departure point, he added. On Thursday, he said there were just three such flight plans filed.
Recreation pilots often fly under visual flight rules, which don’t require them to file a flight plan, Pixey said, and there are a few private pilots still flying.
Travel Management is a major company that provides charter private-jet services across North America. The company has 30 jets based at the Elkhart airport, Pixey said, and the company’s traffic has slowed.
He has noticed that some of the other private aircraft businesses located on the airfield have cut hours of operations or staff, but he has not kept track of how many people and companies have been impacted by the restrictions placed on businesses and travel.
Sharkey said the Goshen airport operations average 60 to 70 flights a day. Some of those flights are made by flight instructors and their students, but New Horizons Aviation that operates the flight school, has heeded Gov. Eric Holcomb’s order to close non-essential businesses, according to Sharkey.
Also, Aircraft Charter Services, which provides private jet charters out of Goshen, is continuing to operate, according to Sharkey, but demand for its services may be waning.
“There had been a strong demand lately to move families home from spring break vacations who might have gotten stranded, however this past week all five jets are grounded,” Sharkey said. “With the business travel restrictions in place the need for private charters will be slim for the foreseeable future.”
Sweet Helicopters, the helicopter charter company based in Goshen, remains on standby to provide emergency air transportation for local officials who need to get to downtown Indianapolis quickly, Sharkey said.
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