Johnstown airport leaders back SkyWest's bid to continue service

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

Jun. 22—After more than six weeks of negotiations, a deal appears to have been reached that will keep SkyWest Airlines flying to and from the Johnstown area's airport.

It's a move that must still receive the U.S. Department of Transportation's approval, but board members at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport voted unanimously on Tuesday to support having SkyWest continue service to Johnstown through late next year.

The airline is set to continue providing 14 round-trip flights per week.

"What it means to the public is that they will have the same carrier flying them to the same destinations — Chicago and Dulles (Virginia) — and without any interruption in service," airport authority member Jim Loncella said.

The board is backing SkyWest's decision to rescind its previous plan to end jet service at the airport.

Airport officials had three other hopefuls and met with personnel from Contour Airlines and Boutique Air in recent weeks, but chose to stick with their current carrier.

A United Express carrier, SkyWest carries passengers to two United hubs. Since establishing itself in Johnstown, the airport has seen its passenger counts soar to marks not seen in 15 years, with 10,000 people boarding flights in Johnstown and more than 20,000 flying inbound or outbound in the past 12 months.

"There are a lot of advantages to staying with SkyWest," Loncella said, citing the airline's high reliability rate as another factor.

Citing an industry-wide pilot shortage, SkyWest initially signaled this summer that it would cut service to Johnstown and 29 other communities where air service is subsidized by the federal Essential Air Service (EAS) program, which is meant to ensure a minimal level of service to communities that would otherwise be unprofitable for airlines to serve.

Airport officials said SkyWest initially approached them about temporarily cutting the number of flights it would offer to Johnstown each week — a move that some other EAS-subsidized communities were weighing this month.

But the Johnstown board declined that offer and continued to negotiate.

One change that went into effect this spring — brief touchdowns in Clarksburg, West Virginia, during flights from Johnstown to Chicago and back — will likely continue as is, assuming the Clarksburg airport also retains SkyWest. Loncella said the board, in partnership with fixed base operator Nulton Aviation and state and federal lawmakers, is working to address that, too.

Part of the pilot shortage is driven by the fact that a 2007 federal law requires pilots to retire by age 65 from most commercial flights — including the Part 121 certification SkyWest operates under. The group was able to fast-track an approval that would enable SkyWest to fly under a Part 135 certification, which doesn't carry that same mandate for pilots, airport Manager Cory Cree said.

Loncella said it'll be up to the Department of Transportation to decide if that certification is applicable to Johnstown's current 2022-23 contract with SkyWest or if the parties would have to let the deal run its course. But the hope is that the move would allow SkyWest to begin adding flights again, he said.

First and foremost, the U.S. Department of Transportation must receive and approve SkyWest's letter to allow Johnstown service to continue — a move that Loncella said could occur as soon as Friday.

With Sunshine Act laws preventing the board from scheduling another meeting this week and a deadline approaching, airport officials also authorized Cree to draft a letter supporting their second choice — Contour Airlines — if the deal with SkyWest and Johnstown doesn't get approved. Airport officials don't foresee any roadblocks, but the fallback option would ensure Johnstown would retain jet service if an unforeseen obstacle arises, albeit to a different location — in that case, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Cree, authority member Rick McQuaide, Nulton Aviation's Larry Nulton and ArkStar Group consultant Gary Foss met via Zoom on June 9 with representatives with the low-cost carrier Allegiant.

In a move to lure the Nevada-based carrier, Cree said the authority provided various data to the company, which Allegiant plans to analyze before making a decision.

"Overall, the meeting went well," Cree said, but noted it's too soon to know if it will yield a deal.

Even if a deal with Allegiant is reached, service would not begin any earlier than summer 2023, Cree told the board.