Mar. 13—STOCKTON — Russell Stark, executive director of the Stockton Metropolitan Airport, said the transportation hub will recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will more than likely take more than a year.
"We have seen an increase in ridership over the last few weeks," Stark said. "But we don't expect to return to 2019 passenger levels for another 18 to 24 months, or longer."
One of the biggest blows to the airport was the loss of two commercial carriers almost as soon as the pandemic started last March, Stark said.
United Airlines, one of the largest commercial carriers in the world, began flying out of Stockton in August of 2019, he said. But by April 1 of last year, just one month into the pandemic, the airline suspended operations out of the airport.
In addition, SkyWest, a regional carrier based in Utah, shut its Stockton operations completely down.
As result, passenger and clientele traffic through the airport declined by 51% in 2020, Stark said.
"Allegiant is our only running airline right now," he said. "They are now in a reversal of sorts, because they were experiencing a 3% growth a year, then when the pandemic hit, their employment declined by 51%."
Fortunately, Stark said the airport itself did not have to lay off any of its 14 employees last year.
However, the decline in airline passengers affected parking, auto rentals and rideshare revenues as well, he said.
Parking revenue declined by as much as 75%, as did Lyft ridership to and from the airport. In addition, both car rental agencies — Hertz and Enterprise — closed their doors.
Two Flight Cafe, the restaurant inside the airport, also had to close due to stay-at-home guidelines imposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health.
The pandemic did not affect cargo carriers, Stark said, as cargo still needed to be shipped out of the area.
Despite the fallbacks, Stark said the airport was able to secure funding for reconstruction of a taxiway, as well as a new aircraft rescue fire vehicle.
Reconstruction on the taxiway should begin this year, and the ARF vehicle is scheduled to be delivered in June.
Stark said it is unclear if United will reopen its Stockton location, or if SkyWest will return. But, he said, negotiating with carriers is something that is undertaken throughout the year, and he is hoping to entice more airlines to the area in the future.
"I'm very cautious about the way we conduct business here," he said. "Cargo and passengers are our number one priority, and as we move forward, we want to provide them with the best service we can, but also be cautious about how we do that."
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