Airport could benefit from new emphasis on small sites
With Congress and the Federal Aviation Administration looking for incentives to alleviate airport delays by having airlines use less-crowded facilities, this could be the time for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport to make its pitch for increased passenger traffic.
Since many passengers just pass through an airline hub on their way to other destinations, they could certainly change planes locally rather than at a more congested airport. Especially as the Cleveland-Hopkins Airport is running into problems with a hoped-for expansion, the Western Reserve Port Authority and Thomas P. Nolan, director of aviation, should waste no time in seeing how the local airport could serve as a regional hub..
Last year, an industry trade group estimated that the United States would need 10 new airports the size of Dallas-Fort Worth to handle increased air traffic. But why build expensive new airports if existing facilities can handle the load?
Air Force One: After all, if Air Force One can land at our airport -- as it did when President Clinton visited the Valley in 1996, even the biggest passenger jets should have no problem landing on the federally financed expanded main runway
And it actually might be easier to sell airlines on using the Valley's airport as a transfer point for its passengers, than to persuade area residents to fly in and out of the local site.
Of course, if the number of flights in and out of Vienna were increased, local passengers would have more reasons not to drive to Cleveland or Pittsburgh to initiate their travels.
Congress and the FAA are looking for solutions. The Valley's airport can provide one.