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ADI seeks federal subsidies to start flights to SD, Miss. No US aid available for Y’town-Warren
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Dan Dickten
VIENNA
As long as the U.S. Department of Transportation approves the new service, Aerodynamics Inc. will launch its new, daily Mahoning Valley-to-Chicago flights, according to Dan Dickten, aviation director at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna.
The fact that ADI has applied to provide commercial flights to and from other cities under the federally-subsidized Essential Air Service program, which is not available here, does not diminish the likelihood of the launch of the Mahoning Valley-to-Chicago service, he said.
“We have a signed contract,” with ADI to provide the Youngstown-to-Chicago service, Dickten added.
The U.S. DOT has all the information it needs to decide whether to approve the service here, and it will likely decide in about a week, he said.
“We’re within 70 miles of Pittsburgh, so we’re not eligible” for the EAS program, Dickten explained.
The Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and 25 other airports lost their EAS program eligibility more than 10 years ago because they are within 70 miles of a major hub airport, he noted.
“They’ve been very upfront with the fact that they’re pursuing other air service that would provide EAS funding,” Dickten said of ADI executives.
Aerodynamics Inc., of Beachwood, Ohio, and Atlanta, is one of three airlines that have proposed Pierre, S.D., to Denver service under the EAS program.
ADI also has proposed 24 round trips per week between Tupelo, Miss., and Atlanta under that federal subsidy program.
ADI is in the process of entering into a reservation and interline agreement with Silver Airways, which has agreements with American, United and Delta airlines, Dickten said.
That means service from Vienna “can connect seamlessly with those airlines to over 120 destinations, both domestic and international,” Dickten said.
The city of Chicago already has agreed to the use of an aircraft parking apron and passenger boarding bridge at O’Hare International Airport for the Youngstown-Chicago service, Dickten said.
“They’re all in here for service at Youngstown,” Dickten said of ADI.
Meanwhile, in a supplement posted on the Department of Transportation website Friday, ADI said that a link between Youngstown Warren Regional and Chicago O’Hare International Airport is a superior alternative to its original plans to fly to Detroit Municipal Airport from Vienna.
ADI said that a problem with the Detroit route is the inability to use the Delta Airlines terminal, which would require passengers to reclear security when making connections to or from the airport’s hub. Aerodynamics Inc. said that complication will not exist at O’Hare, which also offers broader competitive alternatives for passengers from the Mahoning Valley.