CORTLAND Company announces proposal for airport

An airline with no planes says its proposal would generate $1.3 million a year for the airport.
CORTLAND -- The CEO of a startup company based in Colorado says he wants to rent all of Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport's terminal space to create a "mini-hub," with flights to 10 East Coast destinations.
"We are forming the program to actually do this thing," said Lee Allen, founder and CEO of Golden Airways.
"We are putting together a plan so the airport does not have to continually get cash from the counties."
The announcement was made during a candidates' night program at Lakeview High School.
During his introductory statement, Don Manning, Republican candidate for Trumbull County commissioner, said the airline could bring 150 jobs to the area and pour $48 million into the local economy.
Afterward, Allen said his company's proposal would generate $1.3 million a year for the money-losing airport in rent, taxes and fees.
No planes
Golden Airways does not own or lease any planes at this point, he said.
Allen said it is acquiring an FAA certificate, required to run commercial flights, from a defunct airline he declined to name. He said the company is stockholder-owned.
He also declined to go into detail on destinations the airline hopes to serve or the company's proposal to the Western Reserve Port Authority, which runs the airport.
"It would be unfair to the port authority and very unfair to us to go into that," he said.
If the deal goes through, Golden Airways would likely begin service with five leased planes, based in Youngstown, and expand to 15 planes within three years, he said.