Jet set: Airport officials pursuing new carriers; feds keep SkyWest at Johnstown until replacement is found

David Hurst, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·4 min read

Mar. 19—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Local airport officials said they are confident a U.S. Department of Transportation order gives them the time they need to enable a smooth shift from their current carrier to a new one this summer.

But Johnstown-Cambria County Airport Authority members don't plan to wait around for federal officials to find their next passenger airline. In an 8-0 vote, the board approved a three-month deal with an airline industry consultant to help them convince another jet service to land here.

"Finding another reliable jet carrier is our top priority," board Chairman Rick McQuaide said.

"We're confident (the federal order) will ensure we have air service from SkyWest until another carrier is found," Airport Manager Cory Cree said, "but we also know there are 28 other airports looking for a new carrier, which is why it was so important for us to act quickly."

SkyWest, which offers daily flights to Chicago O'Hare and Washington's Dulles under the United banner, announced this week it planned to drop service to its 29 Essential Air Service cities, including Johnstown.

The federal order issued Wednesday barred the airline from ceasing its contracted service for now, requiring SkyWest to continue serving those airports into at least June or until new providers are found.

SkyWest's decision to drop out of the program was both sudden and a potential momentum-stopper for the local airport. Under SkyWest, the airport's passenger count has routinely hit levels the facility hadn't seen in 15 years.

"We were in constant contact," McQuaide said. "We knew they were happy with the growth they were seeing here."

While the airline industry saw air travel dip 27% nationwide in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, Johnstown's enplanements climbed to 8,519 in 2021 — a 35% increase compared to 2019 under a previous carrier.

Enplanements represent the number of people who boarded flights in Johnstown — in this case, to travel to Chicago or Washington, D.C.

Local enplanements from March 2021 to February 2022 were even higher, at 9,376, figures show.

Combined, 17,009 people flew from or to the Johnstown airport through SkyWest in 2021. And month after month, it seemed like totals continued growing, Cree said.

Cree and McQuaide credited SkyWest for showing the industry that the region will embrace local air travel if it is both dependable and direct to important hubs.

As the airline industry is struggling to staff planes, Johnstown airport officials are hoping their proven success will be enough to encourage another carrier to step in.

On Friday, officials accepted Texas-based ArkStar's offer to help them find the right carrier. The prime goal will be to lure another jet service. SkyWest uses 50-seat planes that local travelers have seemed to embrace, airport officials said.

McQuaide said airport officials started picking up the phones to approach other airlines hours after learning SkyWest was departing.

ArkStar's Gary Foss, who worked in planning for American Airlines for decades before becoming a consultant, has already performed work for the Johnstown airport and his next contract, at up to $16,000, will expand that, focusing on jet carriers first and those with smaller twin engines as a second option.

A nationwide numbers game complicates the primary goal. First, airlines across the United States are dealing with a pilot shortage . The second is that there are only a handful of carriers within the Essential Air Service program that offer jet service, McQuaide said.

That includes Contour Air and American Eagle Air, which flies under the American Airlines banner to the company's Charlotte, North Carolina, hub and other destinations. Another, Key Lime Air, is a growing Midwestern airline that serves airports under the Denver Air brand from Arizona to Chicago.

"We've already approached those carriers — and others," McQuaide said. "We're confident we'll find another carrier. ... It's just a matter of who."

Continued reliability "is our primary focus," he added, "because people depend on their flights arriving on time."

Airport officials may not have to look far to find one option.

Boutique Air, their previous carrier, operates a maintenance hangar on the eastern end of the airfield, employing a dozen mechanics who service twin-engine airplanes that serve Altoona and other regional airports. Cree said Boutique has been growing to the point that it may need to expand on the airport property.

"We're talking to everyone right now, including them," he said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is giving airlines until April 11 to submit proposals that would detail the number of flights they'd offer from Johnstown, the price tag and the planes they would use.

The department makes the final decision, but will weigh heavily Johnstown airport officials' recommendations, making the recruitment process an important step.

"This is our chance to find our best option," McQuaide said.

Through the contract with Foss, his firm will also pursue airlines through a separate pitch this spring. That will include marketing the airport and its latest flight figures to low-cost carriers such as Frontier, Breeze, Allegiant and JetBlue in an attempt to add direct weekly flights to popular travel destinations, Cree said.