David Deetz, chair of the Waterloo Regional Airport Board, and director Steven Kiergaard briefed the Black Hawk County Board on Dec. 2 about the airport’s commercial service and growth strategy.

Deetz said the airport is currently served by American Airlines with two daily flights on a 65-seat regional jet and noted the airline upgraded the aircraft this year to a larger, dual‑class cabin. He told supervisors the airport’s proximity and quick passenger experience — short parking walks and low parking fees — are selling points for local travelers.

Kiergaard said the June upgauge to a larger aircraft improved amenities such as Wi‑Fi and a dual‑class cabin but can make load factors appear worse because of the increase in available seats. "Airlines decide where planes fly on one key factor: how many seats are filled on each flight," Kiergaard said, urging the community to use local service.

Presenters said the airport has recovered to roughly 2019 passenger volumes and that increasing local usage would make the market more attractive to other carriers. They discussed the role of Essential Air Service (EAS) subsidy support and said the industry expects some change but that American proposed to continue service for up to four years; Kiergaard also said the airport expects its subsidy to be reduced modestly in the next bidding cycle.

The airport plans a TSA PreCheck enrollment event Feb. 10–13 with 300 pre‑registration slots; if successful, officials hope to host the event more frequently. Board members described community outreach and incentive strategies to attract a second, less‑than‑daily carrier (for example, Breeze or Avelo) but said additional service would likely require community economic participation to reduce carrier risk.

The county board asked questions about flight counts, EAS rules and timelines; airport officials said they continue to meet with airlines and to pursue longer‑term market growth rather than a short‑term fix.

The presentation closed with an invitation to coordinate county travel policy preferences toward using the local airport when feasible.