Coronavirus Florida: COVID-19 to Nearly Shut Down Sarasota-Bradenton Airport in April

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SARASOTA — Baltimore: Canceled. Indianapolis: Canceled. Atlanta: Canceled.

The coronavirus pandemic and its resulting shutdowns have wiped out the crowds and grounded flights at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, one of the nation's fastest-growing airports. Officials believe that passenger traffic will be reduced to almost nothing this month.

For April, passenger traffic is expected to be down 95% as the first full month that the pandemic and ensuing flight cancellations are felt.

This comes after SRQ saw a passenger decrease of 23% for March.

That's only 153,000 passengers traveling through the airport, the majority being recorded during the first half of the month.

"We know it is going to be painful for the next couple of months as the entire country works to contain and reverse the spread of COVID-10," airport president and CEO Frederick "Rick" Piccolo said.

The sharp decline comes after a blockbuster two years for SRQ, which added new airlines to its fleet and passenger growth skyrocketed for 24 straight months.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, signed into law March 27, includes $10 billion in economic relief funds for U.S. airports and airlines affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of SRQ's nine air carriers are applying for relief money.

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The airport expects to maintain a minimal level of service to multiple destinations as the country transitions through the pandemic, said Piccolo. Major carriers such as Delta still will provide some services to hubs. Allegiant and Frontier will also provide some departures.

SRQ typically handles 200,000 passengers in April. Now it's anticipating 10,000 — with an estimated $1 million a month in losses.

While SRQ has not laid off or furloughed workers, the airlines have cut back on flight attendants and other employees, Piccolo said. Food and beverage and other vendors at the airport have shed at least 75% of their workforce.

While area visitation numbers and the impact of the coronavirus on the local tourism economy are not available, Sarasota County is expected to see a "dramatic decrease," said Virginia Haley, the president of the local tourism promotion agency Visit Sarasota County.

Facing an unprecedented drop in occupancy, hotels have cut anywhere from 70% to 90% of staff, Haley said.

In the meantime, the airport plans to proceed with construction projects that would otherwise be very difficult to complete when high volumes of travelers are using the airport.

These include repaving the short and long-term parking lots, renovating the screening checkpoint area, and completing airfield projects that require partial closures of taxiways and runways.

SRQ is also increasing the number of janitorial employees and instituting cleaning procedures that meet or exceed those outlined in Centers for Disease Control guidance.

"We are hopeful that we can get through this month and things will start to come back," Piccolo said. "But it will take quite some time to get back to when we were setting records every month."

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