Duluth International Airport Seeing Pilot Shortages

DULUTH, Minn. — A nationwide pilot shortage is affecting the Duluth International Airport, causing the hub to reduce the number of flights to Chicago this month.

United Airlines has cut its direct flights in Duluth to and from Chicago from its typical three, down to one this month.

That will be bumped up to two in December, and might get back to three flights by the time summer travel begins again.

The pandemic has disrupted the airline industry since last year, as some airlines tried to control their costs by offering buyouts to their crews, while an estimated 10 percent of pilots chose the early retirement option.

This all caused a domino effect, where these carriers have been cancelling flights not because the passenger demand isn’t there, but because there are not enough employees now.

“There are major disruptions that happen around the country due to the lack of pilots and crews. I think those will continue into the winter months. But I will tell you that most of our flight schedule in Duluth has been fairly resilient and we are really happy about that,” Duluth International Airport Executive Director, Tom Warner says.

Right before the pandemic, DIA saw its highest travel numbers in 2019 compared to the past ten years.

Now as the airline industry tries to recover, the Duluth airport is seeing about 30 percent fewer travelers come through right now.