Killeen Regional Airport suffered a 33 percent loss of their major carriers last year when Delta Airlines decided they were leaving the facility in January of 2018.
Only having had three airline carriers available at the time, Killeen Regional Airport officials scrambled to ensure this major hit wouldn't become catastrophic.
Matthew Van Valkenburgh, the Director of Aviation at Killeen Regional Airport, reflected on the past year.
"We didn't have a plan ready because we didn't know about it...We got a call from channel 25 asking us about it, that's how we learned about it," said Valkenburgh.
A year later, and numbers and revenue, according to Valkenburgh the airport is doing better than in comparison to when all three carriers were available.
Valkenburgh attributes the success of the airport during this last year to the staff.
"Staff working hard to make things right here, with the Delta departure leaving us, reaching out to the other airlines and the airlines stepping up to the plate," Valkenburgh said.
We spoke with Killeen Councilman Gregory Johnson on what he sees coming to the regional airport in the near future,
"The city has been meeting with several budget airline carriers, they haven't been able to get the deal that they want, but I really think that we can get someone in like Frontier or Spirit," Johnson said.
No matter what's coming down the flight line, it seems those in charge of Killeen Regional Airport's future have all systems go.
Copyright 2019 KXXV. All rights reserved.
