Regional airport can’t afford to put its reputation at risk

It would take a leap of faith for the Western Reserve Port Authority to believe that troubled Aerodynamics Inc. will be in a position to provide regular, uninterrupted daily air service between Youngstown and Chicago.

That’s because the U.S. Department of Transportation all but sounded the death knell for a deal between the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and Aerodynamics when it found that the Beachwood, Ohio, and Atlanta, Ga., company did not have the “managerial competence necessary” nor the “proper compliance disposition and regard for the laws and regulations governing its services.”

There’s no way to sugarcoat the federal department’s evaluation of Aerodynamics and its chief executive officer, Scott Beale — and the port authority should not attempt to do so.

The regional airport cannot afford to have its reputation put at risk by entering into an agreement with the company headed by Beale. The CEO was ordered by a federal jury in Virginia to pay $600,000 after it found that he had fraudulently made a statement to induce a business partner at the time, James Paquette, to invest $500,000 in Aerodynamics. Paquette is president of Flight Test Aviation Inc. of Chantilly, Va. Beale filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in Ohio.

In early December, about a month after airport Director of Aviation Dan Dickten discussed the prospects of daily commercial airline service, Vindicator Reporter Ed Runyan detailed the legal and financial problems plaguing Beale and his airline. As a result of the story, we reassessed our initial support and urged the port authority and Dickten to move cautiously and to make sure that Aerodynamics is financially capable of operating for many years and able to provide the level of service that paying customers expect.

LACKING ‘FITNESS’

Today, in the wake of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s denial of Aerodynamics’ application for daily air service between Youngstown and Chicago on the grounds that the airline lacks “fitness” to operate, we believe it’s time for Dickten and the port authority to deep-six this proposal and pursue other possibilities.

It is significant that the federal government also proposed revoking ADI’s certification to provide charter flights.

Although Beale will have the opportunity to show why DOT’s initial assessment should not lead to his company’s decertification, which would prohibit it from operating commercial flights, we aren’t convinced that Aerodynamics will fully recover from this turmoil.

It has been 13 years since the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport lost daily commercial service, which is why there’s no reason for the port authority and the director of aviation to rush to judgment.

Dickten says he has meetings with other airlines about daily service, but he seems to be willing to give Aerodynamics a chance if the company is able to persuade the federal government that its troubles are a thing of the past.

Even if ADI is given the green light to provide the Youngstown-Chicago connection, we would hope the port authority insists on a contract that imposes stiff penalties on the airline if it fails to live up to the terms of the agreement.

The Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport has made great strides in increasing passenger usage, thanks to Allegiant Air’s flights to Florida and South Carolina. The travel experience mostly receives high marks because of the convenient location of the airport in Vienna Township and service provided by the airline.

The port authority should guard against doing anything that would undermine Allegiant’s continued presence in the Valley — and the possibility of expansion.