© 2024 WXPR
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Continued Demand At Rhinelander Airport Draws Larger Planes, Extra Daily Flight

Matthew Leitner

Sustained passenger demand at the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport has Delta Airlines bringing larger airplanes to the Northwoods.

The company is also adding another daily flight.

Many airports have seen significant decreases in travel interest during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that hasn’t been true in Rhinelander.

“We’ve always been a hot summer market. I don’t think the demand has necessarily ebbed because of the coronavirus pandemic. If anything, it might have been amplified by it for people that are looking to escape cities,” said Airport Director Matthew Leitner.

Credit Matthew Leitner
Larger 70- and 90-seat Delta planes are now serving the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport, due to demand and COVID-19 precautions.

Delta Airlines, which serves the airport, will add back a second daily flight to the Twin Cities on Wednesday.

It had cut its schedule to just one daily flight when the pandemic started.

Rhinelander is also seeing larger aircraft serving the airport than normal.

“It would be an extraordinary circumstance to get a 90- or a 70-seat [aircraft into Rhinelander under normal conditions], but it’s a regular occurrence now. These airplanes are two-class configuration with two flight attendants. You have a first-class cabin and an economy cabin,” Leitner said.

Delta sells a maximum of 60 percent of capacity on its airplanes to allow for better social distancing.

Ben worked as the Special Topics Correspondent at WXPR from September 2019 until November 2021. He now contributes occasionally to WXPR. During his full-time employment, his main focus was reporting on environment and natural resources issues in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula as part of The Stream, a weekly series.
Up North Updates
* indicates required
Related Content