MOLINE, Ill. — The Fourth of July weekend in 2023 set new travel records. From Thursday through Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration screened more than 10 million people at airports across the country.
For smaller airports like the Quad Cities International Airport, consistency is key.
"We have not added any new flights or lost any flights since last Fourth of July," Ashleigh Davis, the airport's public relations and marketing manager, said.
On the surface, that may not sound too good. However, Davis said consistency is actually better for the airport long-term.
"Consistency is always a strong indicator that we're ready to take on more air service or recover what we lost because of COVID," Davis said. "You may see some spikes around holiday time where maybe some flights that aren't quite as full are definitely going to be full over a holiday, but you want to see a little bit of consistency instead of these major peaks and major valleys."
The Quad Cities did not break a travel record here this past holiday weekend.
"We're seeing a slight uptick in travelers over 2022. We expect that over the weekend it'll probably be pretty even," Davis said.
Consistency is an important metric for the airport, especially when looking toward the future.
"You see a lot of smaller airports losing service," Davis said. "So the fact that we're consistent actually means we're trending in the right direction."
The airport is consistently filling its current flight schedule too, which is just as important when attracting more routes, Davis said.
"We're going to see a relatively consistent number of travelers year over year, which is a good thing," Davis said.
Consistency for this airport means the sky is never the limit.
Davis added this year's slight increase could be because the Fourth of July fell on a Tuesday. She said that may have allowed people to travel further than in years past.
It is still too early to know exactly how many people traveled through the Moline airport during the holiday stretch. The total will be available in the coming days, Davis said.
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