Almost $600,000 pledged for local air service

Almost $600,000 pledged for local air service

VIENNA

Area community and business leaders have pledged nearly $600,000 in business to help bring daily flights to the Mahoning Valley.

Gary Wakeford, a member of YNGAir Partners, an organization that works with area businesses and civic leaders to assist in securing daily flight service at the airport, introduced a travel bank program last week. A Travel Bank is a list of pledges made by local businesses, large employers and even individuals who travel frequently that states how much each entity believes it would spend annually to use a specific new airline service to be initiated from a local airport.

The goal is to show the community will support daily air service, he said. The purpose of the program is to quantify the demand locally for daily air travel.

The total pledge goal for the initiative is $3 million to $5 million, said Dan Dickten, director of aviation at the airport.

“Access to viable markets, time and money are among the most critical resources for success to nearly every business. Having a full service airport that provides the necessary gateway in a time and cost efficient manner is a critical piece of the puzzle to growing and expanding the business base,” Wakeford said.