Youngstown-Warren airport offers low fares, convenience

The eight-hour delay Sunday of a Vacation Express flight from the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Sanford, Fla., while not an unusual occurrence in air travel in the United States, should serve as a wake-up call for Aviation Technologies, which operates the low-fare service. The complaints from passengers had a common thread: We can't get a straight answer from airline officials.
On the other hand, travelers taking advantage of the huge savings and the great convenience of flying out of the relatively empty regional airport in Vienna Township (compared with Pittsburgh International, Cleveland Hopkins and even Akron-Canton) should understand that flight delays due to mechanical failure or inclement weather are a fact of life.
While Sunday's hiccup was the third one in Vacation Express' 15-month service in the Mahoning Valley, the airline had 32 days of on-time performance. Given what's going on nationally with air travel, Vacation Express' record is encouraging. The fact that the planes are now 70 percent full is a clear indication that the people of the Valley are glad to have commercial service at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.
Thus, while the delay Sunday did cause some passengers to get angry and impatient, the alternative is too gut-wrenching to contemplate. According to United Press International, the already overwhelmed hub airports could be in for even more headaches in the next year or so. That's because an estimated 5,000 air-traffic controllers will hit the FAA's mandatory retirement age of 56.
Here's how the UPI report out of Los Angeles described what could happen with such an exodus of qualified personnel: "The union representing air-traffic controllers warned Wednesday that a manpower shortage in control towers across the United States will soon lead to a breakdown in the system that will cause chronic flight delays.
Tight control
"Rather than scare stories about overwhelmed controllers no longer able to maintain order in the air-traffic lanes, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association insisted it will never surrender control of the skies and will instead allow only as many planes as they can safely handle into the air -- and the rest will just have to wait their turn before being allowed to take off."
The shortage of controllers has a direct impact on what takes place on the taxiways, runways and in the skies. It does not address the growing and persistent problems with the security screening system.
Indeed, the beauty of airports like Youngstown-Warren Regional is that there aren't the long lines of passengers snaking around the terminal.
In May, the Christian Science Monitor reported that the expected 200 million passengers passing through security gates this summer would overtax the new security apparatus run by the Transportation Security Administration.
Against this backdrop, Vacation Express' eight-hour delay Sunday does not seem all that egregious.
What should be of concern to all involved is the apparent break down in communication between the officials at the ticket counter and the passengers. One traveler told a television reporter that the first reason given for the delay was bad weather in Florida, which prevented the plane from getting to Youngstown-Warren on time. But later, the passengers were told that a broken part on the airplane delayed its arrival, which meant a late departure.
Airline personnel should understand that passengers with frayed nerves are unlikely to be appeased if they believe they're getting the run-around.