DULUTH — Mayor Roger Reinert described the city’s aviation sector as a “critical economic engine for our region” Wednesday as the Duluth Airport Authority revealed the findings of a recently completed economic impact study.
Duluth International Airport pumped an estimated $1.4 billion into the local economy in 2024, according to an analysis by the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. The airport, combined with its tenants and users, joined forces to directly provide more than 3,000 jobs, plus another 943 in supporting industries last year, researchers found.
Reinert spoke during a news conference hosted by Cirrus Aircraft, a Duluth-based airplane manufacturer that recently invested upward of $25 million to remodel a former jetliner maintenance base into its state-of-the-art Innovation Center, according to Pat Waddick, the company’s president of innovation and operations.
Waddick joined Cirrus founders Alan and Dale Klapmeier as their first intern, initially working out of a barn in central Wisconsin. He recalls being handed a broom early in his career and views it as a bit of a prophetic task in retrospect.
“Since then, we have continued to sweep up market share and move on to change the world,” Waddick said.
As Cirrus expanded, the company looked for a new home, and Waddick said he believes the Klapmeiers made a wise choice to land in Duluth. He noted that Cirrus now employs about 1,700 people in Northeastern Minnesota and 2,890 people worldwide.
The Cirrus SR-series aircraft has been the world’s best-selling general aviation airplane for 23 straight years and counting. The company’s newer Vision Jet has held the No. 1 industry top-seller spot in its category for the past seven years. Waddick pointed out that last year, Cirrus delivered 731 aircraft, making it the largest producer of general aviation aircraft worldwide.
Duluth International Airport has proudly supported the growth of Cirrus and other aviation enterprises in the community, said Tom Werner, its executive director.
He noted that outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul and the reliever airports that support its operations in the metro area, “there’s no other airport that contributes more to the state’s economy than DLH.”
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In fact, when the Minnesota Department of Transportation last studied the impact of airports around the state in 2019, Werner said DLH accounted for 76% of Minnesota’s aviation proceeds outside the MSP metro area.
“It’s the collective power of businesses who comprise our aviation sector that are the true economic driver for our economy,” Werner said.
“But it wouldn’t be possible without strong airport infrastructure,” he added.
Werner said that over the next five years, the airport hopes to spend nearly $150 million on capital improvements, including the reconstruction of 2 miles of taxiway, additional hangars to support aviation businesses and a new air traffic control tower.
“My message to our leaders in Washington and St. Paul is: The time to fully fund this project is now,” Werner said.
Reinert, who is a pilot, called for continued investment to support Duluth’s strong reputation as “an aviation community” and specifically pointed to the need to replace an air traffic control tower that’s one of the oldest in the entire nation.
He pointed to recent air traffic control problems elsewhere, including a Jan. 29 collision over the Potomac River, as evidence of the need for top-notch systems.
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“The limited sight of our current tower, because it’s not tall enough, is an operational hindrance,” he said. “It’s not just time to fully fund this project. It’s past time.”
Werner said the airport faces a $38 million funding gap for the project, which he said is “shovel-ready” from a design and site perspective. The Duluth Airport Authority continues to seek the necessary funds from state and federal sources to replace the existing tower.
At present, Duluth’s carriers include:
- United Airlines flying daily nonstop routes to Chicago.
- Delta flying three times daily to Minneapolis/St. Paul.
- Effective Jan. 31, Sun Country will be offering
nonstop flights to Fort Myers, Florida.
Werner said the airport continues its efforts to recruit additional air service to a western destination, with Denver remaining a prime target.
While Duluth International’s annual traffic has not yet quite returned to its pre-pandemic highs, Werner said the airport’s January and February numbers are trending ahead of those last recorded in 2020, before the outbreak took its toll on nationwide travel.
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