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Chicago flights nearing takeoff in Valley
Tickets go on sale April 4 for flights that begin May 30
By Kalea Hall
VIENNA
Nearly two years after Aerodynamics Inc. applied to provide the service at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, Chicago-bound flights soon will take off.
May 30 is the day the flights will be launched. Ticket sales start April 4.
“Now is when the work really starts,” said Dan Dickten, director of aviation. “Really, it has been an uphill battle. It has not been an easy thing to get back.”
Next Tuesday, more details of the service and the new airline name will be released during a press conference at the airport.
In June 2014, ADI, a charter service company based in Beachwood and Atlanta, applied to provide 10 flights a week from Youngstown-Warren to Chicago O’Hare International in a 50-passenger aircraft.
The application was tentatively denied in January 2015 primarily because of concerns over the company’s former owner, Scott Beale, who was found to have committed fraud while soliciting investment funds from a former business partner. Beale later resigned from his position in the company and new leadership was selected.
The primary owners of Oregon-based SeaPort Airlines, John Beardsley and his wife, Janet, became the owners of ADI through ADI Acquisition Co. after a stock-purchase agreement sale closed in July 2015.
Still, the airline had to provide follow-up details about the realigned company for the DOT to continue vetting the airline before approving the service.
After 19 months, on Thursday, Jan. 28 the DOT approved the company’s application for service. The company went on to work with the Federal Aviation Administration and has now set up some dates with the Western Reserve Port Authority, which operates the airport.
Now, it’s time to start promoting the service and get people to fly.
“We need to focus on getting people back to the airport,” Dickten said.
Travelers are excited, he said. The airport, which has Allegiant offering flights to four destinations, consistently receives calls about the Chicago service.
The Chicago service connects Youngstown to the rest of the world. O’Hare International Airport, the world’s second busiest airport based off of arrivals and departures, has about 1,020 daily direct flights to 151 U.S. cities and about 119 daily direct flights to 52 international destinations, as of September 2015.
The service will connect flyers with flights from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and JetBlue, Dickten said.
“We are already looking at destinations to the east,” Dickten said. “We have to sustain what we are starting first. We will increase frequency as we go.”
Pricing for the Chicago flights hasn’t been released by the airline yet, but is expected to be comparable to flights from Cleveland or Pittsburgh to Chicago. Those nonstop flights during the month of June range from $200 up. Money will be saved with the Youngstown airport’s low-cost parking and from not having to spend money and time on the road driving to the other airports, Dickten said.
In an email, Mickey Bowman, vice president of airline services, said the full details of the service will be released March 29, and “things are progressing nicely” with the service.