Grant sought to lure Delta

The grant application contains a letter of support from Delta Airlines.
STAFF/WIRE REPORT
VIENNA -- Regional airport officials are asking the U.S. Department of Transportation for a grant in hopes of enticing Delta Air Lines to begin some flights.
The flights would most likely shuttle travelers to the airline's hub in Cincinnati.
Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna hasn't had scheduled air service since Northwest Airlines shut down its two turboprop flights last fall.
More than $40 million in federal money has been used to improve runways, expand the terminal and build a highway interchange at King Graves Road.
The airport now wants an additional $1 million to spur the Delta project.
The federal grant program -- intended to improve air service to smaller communities -- allowed Akron-Canton Regional Airport to establish two highly successful AirTran flights to New York earlier this year.
Recapturing the market
Officials at the Youngstown-Warren airport say a grant would help them recapture some of the Northeast Ohio market they have lost to airports in nearby cities.
"We're not looking for a home run," said Steve Bowser, interim aviation director. "A bunt single would be great."
Delta officials could not be reached, but the airport's grant application includes a letter of support from the airline.
Twenty years ago, the airport had nonstop flights to Chicago, but by the 1990s, airline industry changes and Youngstown's economic decline left it with just a few flights, mostly to Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Akron.
Travelers decided it was easier to drive to those cities and catch direct flights to their destinations.
The success of Akron-Canton's airport shows small airports can prosper, said Youngstown's former aviation director Tom Nolan, who left recently for a job with Wichita's airport system.
"If they can prove that the proximity of a large hub airport is not the kiss of death, there's no reason Youngstown-Warren can't do the same," Nolan said.
Positive outlook
Akron-Canton has been setting new passenger records monthly for more than a year, in part because of the New York flights but also because of new AirTran and Delta service to Atlanta and Florida.
More than 100,000 travelers a month use the airport located off Interstate 77 about halfway between Akron and Canton.
Last year, the federal program awarded $20 million in grants to 40 airports. Dozens of airports, including Youngstown-Warren, have applied this summer for additional awards.
A consultant's report recently released after being kept under wraps for a year by the port authority board says the local airport needs a long-term fiscal plan, another runway and area commitment to become a cargo hub.
Development that seems impossible at the airport will become feasible as the image of the Mahoning Valley improves. And there is congestion at facilities in Chicago, New York and Miami.
That assessment was made in a September 2002 draft report by Bruce E. Miller, who was hired by Western Reserve Port Authority to do the study.
Miller was to be paid $88,000 for 12 months of part-time work but left early.
Miller said Mahoning and Trumbull county commissioners, who fund airport operations, need to make a five-year commitment to the economic development at the airport, although he pointed out there has been more than $100 million invested in the facility in recent years.
He called for the lengthening of the 9,000-foot runway to 11,000 feet. He also asked for a second runway to be built to handle large international cargo traffic.
Miller said new members who join the port authority board should have experience in international trade, commercial and industrial real estate development, and finance.