MSP's long recovery runway could mean fewer flights as airlines cut their losses

Adapted from a Metro Airports Commission report; Chart: Axios Visuals

Air travel was up over the holidays, but MSP officials project it will be years before the airport's passenger load returns to pre-pandemic levels.

By the numbers: Total passenger traffic plummeted to 14.9 million in 2020, down 62% from 2019, the Metropolitan Airports Commission said Friday.

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• Passenger totals are expected to be down 30% this year, per the commission's budget forecast.

✈️ What it means for you: Fewer options, as airlines slash routes to cut losses.

• "Pre-pandemic, Delta had 15 flights a day from Minneapolis to Chicago, basically choose any hour," Thrifty Traveler executive editor Kyle Potter told Axios. "Now, it’s four flights a day max."

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