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Winner expects to serve more planes at YNG during RNC
By Kalea Hall
VIENNA
When the Republican National Convention comes to Cleveland July 18-21, 50,000 visitors are expected to flood Northeast Ohio from across the nation – and the world.
Most convention-goers will get here by plane, which is why the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna expects to see an influx of charter planes.
Mike Hillman, director of flight operations for Winner Aviation, the maintenance service company based at Youngstown-Warren, said there’s no way to gauge the potential impact.
“A colleague of mine who went through this in Tampa saw about 50 additional planes per day,” he said. “We are staffed to accommodate what we get.”
Winner typically services three to five charter planes per day.
Many private planes heading to Cleveland will have to receive clearance with the Transportation Security Administration at Youngstown-Warren or Akron-Canton airports. Planes not already under a TSA program must visit one of the airports for a brief screening by the TSA before the plane can head to Cleveland.
The planes also could stay at Youngstown-Warren, and the passengers then can drive to Cleveland.
“They may stop in for fuel or other services,” Hillman said.
David O’Neil, deputy press secretary for the RNC’s committee on arrangements, expects all of the other airports in Northeast Ohio outside of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to be utilized for the convention.
To get the visitors to Quicken Loans Arena, where the convention will take place, there will be 350 motor-coach buses traveling throughout Northeast Ohio.
“The airports are aware of the amount of people that will be injected into their airport space,” O’Neil said. “It’s a safe bet that taxi and Uber drivers will be far more utilized [and] more readily available than on a normal weekend.”
United and American airlines have added flights and increased seating capacity into Cleveland for the convention, The Plain Dealer recently reported.
United Airlines will add more than 2,000 seats to and from its hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Newark and Washington, D.C.
American Airlines will add capacity on its Cleveland-to-Washington route during the week, The Plain Dealer reported.