As vaccines become more readily available for Californians, the Long Beach Airport is preparing for a rise in flight and passenger traffic according to a memo issued on April 6.
The memo issued an update for the City Council on its new plans for terminal improvements going forward after its halt from the pandemic.
The pandemic was detrimental to the airport but Claudia Lewis, manager of finance and administration for the airport, has learned a lot from the past year.
“One of things that we’ve learned (from the pandemic) is that we are resilient and flexible. We are able to make adjustments to quickly react to the massive drop in passengers we had,” said Lewis.
According to the commercial flight activity report for the month of April of 2020, the airport saw a total of 6,299 passengers which is the lowest amount of passengers the airport had for the year. It’s also a 98% decrease of total passengers from the previous year as April of 2019 saw 296,941 passengers.
March of 2021 was said to be one of their best months in terms of passenger activity since the beginning of the pandemic according to Lewis.
“The numbers aren’t finalized but it looks like we’re going to be down about 60% of our normal traffic levels. That sounds like a lot, but when you compare it to some of our worst months in the pandemic it definitely shows we’re moving into the right direction,” said the manager of finance and administration.
The increase of flight activity and passengers comes from the vaccine rollouts according to Lewis.
“One of the things that really helped is the city’s rollout and distribution of the vaccine,” Lewis said about the increase of flight activity and passengers.
The city of Long Beach has provided an immense effort throughout the vaccine rollout with its VAXLB information page that provides useful information for the distribution of the vaccines.
Lauren Berger, a frequent flyer who’s flown during the pandemic, isn’t necessarily sure if the vaccine is the reason why there’s an increase of more flyers but rather the boredom most have faced during the pandemic.
Berger said, “I wonder if it’s confidence or if a lot of it is just getting bored, getting to the end of people’s ropes. With my friends I’ve seen that more than increased confidence per se.”
The airport has received a generous amount of financial assistance from the following grants; the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) and American Rescue Plan (ARPA).
The Long Beach Airport has made tremendous efforts in making a sanitary and comfortable flying experience again.
“We’re always focused on the customer’s experience, it’s something we’ve pride ourselves on. One of the things we’re really honing in on now is a touchless travel experience that will contribute to,” said Lewis.
The Airport received the ACI Airport Health Accreditation (AHA) which was earned for the effort they’ve put into keeping the facility clean and safe for travel.
These grants will be used for the airport’s “Phase II” terminal area improvements which include a new ticketing building and the installation of Amadeus Airport Common Use Service (ACUS). ACUS is a cloud based system that maximizes the efficiency of terminal check ins and boarding areas.
According to Lewis, the next step for the future of the airport is to inform the public of the amount of work and resilience the airport has made in preparation for the return of normality in flying.