Bradford Regional Airport’s new carrier will begin service at
the facility in mid-to-late August.
In a meeting dominated by air service issues Wednesday, the
airport authority also heard about discussions of a regional
airline servicing the facility and the inaugural meeting of the
Pennsylvania Air Service Committee, a conglomerate of state and
airport leaders designed to promote the industry and push for
federal dollars.
The meeting followed a roughly one-hour tour of the airport
grounds by members of the authority, advisory committee and
media.
Airport Director Tom Frungillo said he was notified of the
RegionsAir start time via e-mail. Last month, the airline had
indicated it would enter the market in late summer but didn’t give
a specific time frame.
“They (RegionsAir) said they will begin operations at some
locations in West Virginia on May 15 and that will pave the way for
their movement here,” Frungillo said after the meeting.
RegionsAir will be taking over from USAirways Express carrier
Colgan Air Inc., under the auspices of the federal Essential Air
Service program. The airline will fly 34-seat Saab 340 aircraft and
will be using Continental Airlines as its parent carrier. The
airline will also change hub cities from Pittsburgh to
Cleveland.
The U.S. Department of Transportation selected RegionsAir to
service Bradford and nearby Jamestown, N.Y., on March 21 after
Colgan had announced last fall that it was looking to renegotiate
its two-year contract with the DOT under EAS due to an increase in
fuel prices and a decline in passenger levels. The final decision
by DOT eventually came down to money; the federal government would
have to pay a higher subsidy to Colgan to fly into Washington under
EAS.
Officials are hoping the change in hub cities will also provide
additional connections across the country and world, primarily for
business travelers.
Meanwhile, Frungillo said during a meeting Tuesday in State
College of airport leaders from across the state, he had a
discussion with the head of CQ Air Corp., of Middletown, who is
looking for support in creating a regional airline.
While little is known about the fledgling airline, Frungillo
said officials involved are “reaching out to airports,” noting the
possible match between Bradford and CQ would be in addition to the
service provided by RegionsAir.
“They will be in service starting in July,” Frungillo said,
adding “they are legitimate and we are going to look into it.
Anything that is a new avenue we are going to explore it.”
Also during that same meeting, Frungillo said those in
attendance bounced around ideas for placing the state’s air service
issues on a more prominent level.
“The state is going to become more active in air service
issues,” Frungillo said. “I think for the first time you saw
airports not looking at each other as competitors but working
together and sharing information.”
Frungillo said representatives from each of the state’s 16
primary airports attended the meeting.
“It was a well attended meeting,” Frungillo said, adding one of
the issues discussed was arranging a code sharing agreement with
Southwest Airlines, which is moving into the Pennsylvania market
due to the decline of USAirways.
According to Frungillo, the state is talking about setting up a
funding stream to improve air service, possibly using some funding
currently set aside in the budget for infrastructure. The state
committee is also interested in making headway during the upcoming
debate in Congress over the reauthorization of EAS, which the White
House and some on Capitol Hill would like to see abolished.
The federal subsidy program helps airlines which had commercial
air service prior to deregulation stay afloat.
Frungillo said local officials are also interested in exploring
a charter service out of Latrobe which flies to Las Vegas and
usually has empty seats available.
“Maybe we can get a leg (route) up here,” Frungillo said.
There is already a movement under way at the airport to help
increase passenger levels there by targeting which cities they
travel to most.
Officials are also looking to establish two committees – one for
economic development and another for air service issues.
