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Flight delay: Chicago service bumped to mid-June
By Kalea Hall
VIENNA
Aerodynamics Inc. has bumped the takeoff date for its Youngstown-to-Chicago air service to June 13.
The flights originally were to begin June 1.
On Thursday, ADI said the delay will give the U.S. Department of Transportation more time to grant its final approval for ADI’s Schedule Domestic Service Authority. Until the company receives that approval, it cannot sell tickets for the service.
Ticket sales were to begin this month but now are expected to start May 11 for the service from Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport to Chicago O’Hare International Airport. They will be available on ADI’s website and through its call center.
“We think that is a very doable time period,” said Mickey Bowman, ADI’s chief operating officer.
The tickets will be available on other reservation portals May 15. Prices will be as low as $99 for a one-way trip and as high as $250, the company has said.
Though the tickets are comparable to other local airports, leaders at Youngstown-Warren say customers will save on time and money on parking by flying to Chicago from the Vienna facility.
ADI, a charter airline, proposed to bring the service here in June 2014. The DOT initially denied its application for the service because of concerns with its leader at the time.
The company has since changed its ownership and some of its leadership. After thoroughly vetting the company, the DOT approved Aerodynamics for the service in late January.
After receiving that approval, ADI had to complete 25 hours of “proving runs” for the Federal Aviation Administration. ADI completed those runs this week.
Now, the DOT must review the input from the FAA. It requested financial filings from ADI before issuing its final decision.
Once the decision is issued, the ticket sales can start and the flights will begin.
“We need the 30-day advance ticket sales to make sure there are passengers booked on the aircraft when the service launches and into the future so we are not needlessly expending valuable funding and resources,” said Dan Dickten, director of aviation at Youngstown-Warren, in a statement. “Waiting two more weeks for the service startup while we sell tickets is time well spent.”
ADI will have 10 flights a week on its 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 to O’Hare.
ADI also has a hosting agreement with Silver Airways. This will allow ADI to use Silver’s interline agreements with other airlines so passengers can pick up connecting flights easily.
The company has promoted connecting flights offered on carriers: JetBlue Airways, Delta, United and American Airlines.