MOUNT ALTON — The Bradford Regional Airport Authority accepted the bid Wednesday from Bob Cummins Construction of Bradford for the rehabilitation of the Forest Oil Hangar.
The total cost of this project that includes a new door, window replacements and an electrical upgrade is approximately $300,000, with Cummins’ share about $267,000, said Airport Manager Alicia Dankesreiter.
In a report to the authority members, Dankesreiter mentioned the airport’s role in Sunday’s fatal helicopter crash in Keating Township near Smethport. “The helicopter was hangared here and bought our fuel,” she said. “Following established protocol, we shut down fuel sales from 6:30 p.m. Sunday until noon Monday, working with our aviation fuel provider as they checked and cleared the fuel test results.”
Due to the fuel shutdown, one Southern Airways Express flight had to continue to DuBois to refuel.
Ryan Dach, director of stations and Bradford station manager for Southern Air Express, in his airline report for March said there were 285 enplanements and 291 deplanements, for an average of 10.89 passengers per day. Seventeen of the scheduled arrival and departure flights were cancelled due to weather. That resulted in 81 percent and 79 percent completion rates for arrivals and departures, respectively.
Mark Cestari, Southern Airways Express’ executive vice-president for business development, attended this meeting and provided an airline update. “While the 576 incoming and outgoing passengers for March was disappointing,” he said, “the bright side is we have sold 710 segments, which record the number of future passengers. Hopefully, this is a trend.”
According to SAEs passenger data for March, Pittsburgh is the final destination for about 65 percent of the Bradford passengers, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth and Orlando. Also in March, American Airlines was the most-used connecting carrier, with Southwest, Delta and Allegiant rounding out the top four.
As part of its current promotions program, Southern Air Express has initiated “Pitt and Putt,” which encourages golfers to visit courses in this area and Pittsburgh. Pine Acres is the first course to join “Pitt and Putt.”
Requests for Proposals for the Essential Air Service have been sent out and are due to be returned to the U.S. Department of Transportation by May 2. Southern Air Express will be among the airlines responding with proposals.
The EAS provides federal subsidies to airlines that provide essential commercial air service in otherwise unprofitable or minimally profitable markets. Subsidy orders are usually issued for one or two years.
Under EAS regulations, airports, in order to retain their eligibility for federal funding must maintain a daily average of ten passengers and keep under the $200 per passenger subsidy.
Dankesreiter informed the authority members about Lafayette Township’s interest in securing a right-of-way with a sewer line on airport property. The members decided to investigate this matter further and seek the authority’s solicitor’s opinion.
Dankesreiter said the crack and seal project on Runway 14/32 is almost done.
Currently, there are three positions to be filled at the airport: two full-time and one part-time.
The authority members closed out the meeting with an executive session.
