GREEN BAY — "It's just a big hassle," Jane Rohl, who visited Green Bay from Traverse City, MI, said.
Traverse City is a small city with an airport that boasts 20 non-stop flights nationwide.
"The more airports that do direct flights, I would just be so excited," Rohl said.
Like many passengers, she says she prefers direct flights.
Green Bay currently only has nonstop flights to seven cities, soon to be six, after Frontier Airlines pauses its flight to Denver this month.
The low-cost carrier has reportedly announced a number of services changes nationwide, and that includes a number of short-term suspensions starting this month.
"Frontier has been serving Green Bay airport for about five years with seasonal service to various cities, so Denver is one of those cities that is a seasonal route," Austin Straubel International Airport Director, Marty Piette, said.
Piette says Frontier's seasonal route to Denver is going into a pause but will return in 2025.
The loss of seasonal routes, Piette says, is common.
"It gives us an opportunity to speak with our existing airlines to maybe shore up the service they already provide so we can see maybe better connections to other airports like Denver," Piette said.
The final flight to Denver this year from GRB will be on Monday Aug. 12.
Frontier has been flying to Green Bay since 2019. Piette says removing the Denver route is part of the airlines seasonal strategy.
Piette released this statement to the media:
“Frontier Airlines has consistently offered seasonal non-stop services on routes from GRB for the last five years. With seasonal offerings, it is common to see pauses in service to our airport. The temporary pause of the Frontier Denver flight is part of the airline’s seasonal strategy. We expect the flights to return to GRB in 2025. We understand misinformation has been shared from outside sources and we hope this clarifies any inaccurate information regarding seasonal flights.”
In the meantime, Piette says Green Bay and Appleton have been working on adding more direct flights.
"We both have the same problem, and that is our market driving to Chicago," Piette said. "So we need to find ways to work together, to keep our passengers in our state and spending those dollars in our state rather than taking them to another."
In recent months, Appleton International Airport has been expanding, recently adding nonstops to Dallas and Newark.
Some passengers, like Luis Mandujano from Baja California, Mexico, say they don't mind having to make a stop at another airport.
"Having the opportunity to be inside the airport allows me to work," Mandujano said.
Charles Sevigny from Quebec City says he likes having more options.
"What I was thinking was maybe more flexibility on the hours than direct flights from my experience," Sevigny said.
Piette said losing a seasonal flight also won't stop their efforts to possibly expand services in time for the 2025 NFL Draft.
