Fort Wayne Airport expecting more passenger growth, adding parking
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Leaders from Fort Wayne International Airport say they’re on track to set a passenger travel record for the third consecutive year.
A total of 856,803 passengers flew in and out of the airport last year, a 7.6% increase over 2023. Scott Hinderman, executive director of airports for FWA, says parking has become another hurdle to overcome.
“This year, so far, we’re 18% up year-over-year, and during spring break this year, there was a couple days we were full,” Hinderman said during an interview with Inside INdiana Business. “We are just growing so quickly. We have to find some additional parking.”
Last week, the Allen County Council approved $5.3 million for three projects, with $4.6 million going towards a reconfiguration of the terminal exit road.
Hinderman says that project will add 500 parking spaces and is expected to start in late summer.
“During the summer of ’24 we did a parking lot expansion, which gained us about 230 spots, so we thought we were okay for a couple years,” Hinderman said. “[Passengers are] starting to travel in Fort Wayne, as opposed to having to drive to Detroit or to Chicago.”
Multiple airlines are also increasing the size of their aircraft and flight frequency.
Delta Airlines, which brought a flight from Fort Wayne to Detroit back last year after leaving in 2022, is adding a second flight on June 8. United Airlines has extended its fourth flight to Chicago through April 2026.
American Airlines, which also flies to Chicago, currently has two out of its three non-stop daily flights upgauged on larger aircraft. FWA says the third flight will be upgauged later this summer and remain that way for the rest of 2025.
“We are continuing to work with the carriers for additional destinations,” Hinderman said. “The business community having good access to the globe via the aviation system is important, not for just for Fort Wayne to get to the globe, but for the globe to get to Fort Wayne. [If] you want to have good commerce, good traffic, a good business in your region, you have to have a good airport.”
Hinderman says last week, the Allen County Capital Improvement Board voted to pledge money, not to exceed $5 million, for a business attraction effort that the airport is working on. The unnamed company in question is not currently in Indiana, though more details were not available.
Project Gateway, a $140 million construction project which began before the pandemic, will be completed by the end of the year, Hinderman said. The project included a complete renovation of the airport’s West Terminal and ongoing work on the East Terminal.
“In the next two weeks, we’re going to open another gate, so gate four will be open to the public…it’s going to have a very large glass frontage where you’ll be able to see the entire airfield from the gate area,” Hinderman said.
Project Gateway has included the addition of a restaurant, Hop River Brewing, and Bon Bon’s Coffee. The Gateway Lounge, which offers amenities for business travelers, opened last week. Yearly memberships and day passes are available for purchase.
Inside INdiana Business reporter Alex Brown contributed to this story.