Business to take flight for regional airport

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — Commercial flights will again take off from Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and, in the coming months, in greater numbers than have been seen for quite some time.

Allegiant Air, a low-cost leisure carrier based in Las Vegas, has been flying out of the local airport to Sanford, Fla., two times a week for the last 21‚Ñ2 years, but routinely stops flights once a year, said Bill Taylor, commercial ground services manager for Winner Aviation.

“Every fall [Allegiant Air] takes a little hiatus, if you will, because of the hurricane season in Florida, and [with] people returning to school, the demand just kind of drops off,” he said.

Allegiant flights between Youngstown and Sanford resume Nov. 17 with the same schedule seen previously on Mondays and Fridays of each week.

Taylor said Allegiant will make a few changes in 2009 with additional flights in April. He said the airline will add five additional flights on Thursday and Friday, and on Sundays and Mondays between April 2 and April 17.

“These additional flights are basically for spring break,” he said. “We are going to get the word out to these kids to fly out of Youngstown to Florida and fill these planes up. Hopefully, if we can do that, they may consider more traffic out of this airport.”

Taylor made another announcement to members of the Western Reserve Port Authority, which operates the airport, at a meeting Wednesday morning. He told the board there would likely be even more traffic at the airport over the next two years.

Taylor said another airline has contacted Winner Aviation about flying out of the airport. He said Vision Airlines has expressed interest in flying out of the airport 10 times over the next two years.

Vision Airlines was established in 1993 in North Las Vegas. The company has expanded its operations to include limited scheduled service, on-demand charter, corporate shuttles, sports team charters, and programs tailored to resorts and other gaming programs.

The Vision Airlines flights out of Youngstown will be going to MGM casino properties in Mississippi.

Taylor said the first Vision Airlines flight is scheduled to depart Nov. 14 and return Nov. 17. He said nothing is scheduled beyond that point, but there likely will be a flight with the airline about every 21‚Ñ2 months.

Taylor said he hopes the additional Allegiant flights and limited flights with Vision Airlines will make the airport more attractive for prospective passengers.

“If we can fill these planes it will demonstrate the need for more flights in this area,” he added.

Taylor said he would like to see flights from Youngstown to St. Petersburg and Fort Lauderdale — other areas serviced by Allegiant Air.

jgoodwin@vindy.com