Requested by Grow Cedar Valley Air Service Working Group
CEDAR VALLEY OF IA – A local volunteer committee of Grow Cedar Valley (formerly the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber), released the 2019 Air Service Survey to receive valued input by Cedar Valley regional businesses and the general public regarding air service priorities at the Waterloo Regional Airport (ALO).
Survey topics include satisfaction with current air service, options to include additional flights to the current destination of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, offering flights to new destinations, in addition to other miscellaneous air service-related survey questions.
Survey responses will only be accepted from now until June 28th, 2019.
The survey can be found at: https://www.growcedarvalley.com/cms/405/Waterloo_Regional_Airport
Keith Kaspari, Airport Director at Waterloo Regional Airport provided comment, “The information collected by the survey will assist City of Waterloo, Grow Cedar Valley Staff, Airport Board and Community Officials, to identify future air service priorities at the Waterloo Regional Airport in preparation for the bidding of Waterloo’s air service by officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation later this summer.”
Therefore, with public input, the Grow Cedar Valley Air Service Working Group will have information in-hand to discuss air service priorities with the airlines that community officials anticipate will show interest (American Airlines and United Airlines) in submitting a bid to provide scheduled service to Waterloo Regional Airport under a new two-year contract that would begin on or around May 1, 2020.
Cary Darrah, Chief Executive Officer of Grow Cedar Valley, and a member of the Committee, provided comment: “The goal of the Committee during this bidding cycle, is to get the public engaged earlier than we did in 2017, in providing information regarding their business-related or public leisure travel priorities for scheduled service at ALO.”
Darrah, continued, “The Committee believes the Cedar Valley will continue to be well served with airline service to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The Committee would also like to see additional frequency to Chicago, and potential future scheduled service to either Dallas on American Airlines or direct westbound service to Denver on United Airlines. After years of the limited weekly departures offered at the Waterloo Regional Airport through the USDOT’s Essential Air Service program, which provides a weekly maximum of 13 roundtrip departures, these additional options would allow Waterloo Regional Airport and the Greater Cedar Valley Region to begin to reverse the passenger leakage to larger regional airports in Iowa or larger international airports in Minnesota.”
More information can be obtained by contacting Committee Members Keith Kaspari, Airport Director at 319-291-4483, orKEITH.KASPARI@WATERLOO-IA.ORG, or Dave Beaty at 319-277-1059 orDAVE@HEARTLANDFINANCIAL.NET
About Grow Cedar Valley Air Service Working Group
Grow Cedar Valley Air Service Working Group’s goal is to assist the City of Waterloo and the Waterloo Airport Board to maximize the economic benefit of the Waterloo Regional Airport for the Cedar Valley. The working group’s primary goal is to facilitate improvements in commercial air service at the Airport.
About the Waterloo Regional Airport
Waterloo Regional Airport offers 50-minute inflight and direct commercial service to Chicago O’Hare International Airport for connecting flights to over 700 cities worldwide on American Airlines and their One World Alliance partners.
Waterloo Regional Airport has an FAA-owned Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) and General Aviation (GA) facilities, including hangar rentals and a full-service Fixed Base Operator (FBO) with Livingston Aviation. In addition, the Army National Guard has assigned helicopters using the Airport to support its flight operations.
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