TRAVERSE CITY – With The Wall Street Journal just naming Traverse City among the “Ten Best Places to Go in 2025,” the announcement of air service expansion here may be quite timely.
Cherry Capital Airport CEO Kevin Klein outlined next year’s seasonal air service plan for the Northwest Regional Airport Authority board last week.
Klein said that, for the past two years, airport officials have been in talks with Jet Blue Airlines based in Long Island City, New York, about potential jet service between TVC and airports in Boston and/or New York in 2025.
“Jet Blue, I think, is an airline that fits us,” Klein said.
Jet Blue operates more than 1,000 daily flights and serves more than 100 domestic and international network destinations in the Americas and Europe, according to the company’s website.
Klein said Jet Blue would increase their competition with mainline carriers American and Delta airlines and give local travelers more options in getting to the East Coast.
He said he’s hopeful that airline officials will make a decision on expansion here soon.
“From an air service perspective, I think 2025 looks awesome – and I think it’s only going to grow from here,” Klein said.
Cherry Capital Airport also is adding staff to work on future air service expansion, as Klein announced the hiring of Autumn MacClaren as the airport’s new director of air service, development and marketing.
MacClaren, a graduate of Michigan State University, has spent the last 10-plus years in a similar position at Flint Bishop International Airport. Before that she worked as a reporter and anchor for WJRT, the ABC television affiliate in Flint.
Klein said MacClaren will work in a dual role both with the TVC air carriers on their service options, as well as with local business and municipal officials about the region’s air service needs. The annual salary for the position is $140,000 and MacClaren will begin working for them on Jan. 6.
“It will allow us to reach out more in our community and meet with our carriers more,” Klein said.
The expanded flight options coming in 2025 follow another record-breaking year for TVC air travel this year.
The airport’s operations report through November presented to the board showed a total of 733,474 passengers for the first 11 months of the year, an increase of slightly more than 19 percent and already ahead of last year’s record-breaking year of more than 700,000 air travelers.
The passenger count for November totaled just under 49,000 – up 11.3 percent from November 2023.