Springfield airport losing Detroit service

Springfield-Branson National Airport will lose its Delta service to Detroit on May 1.

Delta tells the airport that last-minute schedule changes left the Springfield market without a plane to service the route, though there is a chance the service could return later, airport spokesman Kent Boyd said on the airport's blog.

"It's probably not a stretch to say this is further fallout from the merger of Delta and Northwest," Boyd said, noting that the Springfield-Detroit service was provided by Northwest before the merger. "On the other hand, we've known for some time that this service was on the bubble. There was just one arrival and departure every day ... And the high cost of fare didn't help either."

The departure of Detroit service will leave the Springfield airport with 12 direct destinations.

Boyd also reported on the airport's latest passenger numbers. Figures were down 1 percent in March, ending a six-month streak of double-digit passenger declines. For the year to date, passenger numbers are down 9 percent.

Much of the improvement is attributed to Allegiant Air - the low-cost airline saw passenger numbers grow 55 percent in March, due to its seasonal addition of flights, Boyd said. March numbers for other airlines flying in and out of Springfield all were down. Delta was at the bottom with a 24 percent passenger drop.