Allegiant Air’s departure will hurt regional airport

A year after the region was buffeted with the news that the first daily commercial air service out of Youngstown in 14 years would be grounded for good, residents woke up Friday to another devastating revelation: Allegiant Air is calling it quits after 11 years of passenger flights out of Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.

But unlike the widely publicized August 2016 announcement of Great Lakes JetExpress’ permanent departure after just one month, the Allegiant Air decision has been shrouded in secrecy.

Indeed, as Vindicator Business Reporter Kalea Hall revealed Saturday, Dan Dickten, director of aviation at the airport, was told Aug. 18 by Allegiant that service would be discontinued in January.

Dickten informed John Moliterno, the executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority, which governs the airport.

Yet, on Friday, when The Vindicator’s Hall inquired about Allegiant’s pullout, Moliterno contended the airport and the WRPA were “blindsided” by the news.

“We were informed by the media,” claimed Moliterno, who ran a printing business in Girard before he was hired to head the port authority. “There were no straightforward conversations [with Allegiant].”

But after he was confronted with Dickten’s recollection of what had occurred, Moliterno offered several excuses for not being forthright from the get-go. None of them rose to the level of candor we expect of public officials.

Indeed, an official of Allegiant Air dismissed the explanations from Moliterno for the lack of full disclosure when she told The Vindicator on Friday, “I can tell you they 100 percent knew well in advance of today. The airport was notified the same way we would notify any airport – over the phone. There is no distinction between ‘informal’ and ‘formal.’”

Who knew?

Krysta Levy, the airline’s spokeswoman, said that at least one airport official and one county commissioner knew the service was ending.

But the Mahoning and Trumbull commissioners contacted by the newspaper said they were unaware of Allegiant’s decision.

Given that both counties funnel almost $1.5 million from their hotel/motel bed taxes to the port authority, Moliterno should have informed the elected officials before word leaked out.

Had the commissioners been told Aug. 18, the day Allegiant contacted Dickten, they probably would have offered to work with the port authority to launch a regionwide campaign to persuade the airline not to leave.

There may still be time to put together an incentive package that would forestall Allegiant’s January departure.

After all, the airline has been the beneficiary of strong public support from the Valley and has also enjoyed a close working relationship with the airport staff and the port authority.

The airline launched its Youngstown service in 2006 with service to Sanford/Orlando, Fla. Five years later, flights to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and St. Petersburg, Fla., were added. In 2013, Punta Gorda, Fla., was put on the schedule.

Allegiant subsequently made scheduling and destination changes that impacted the travel plans of residents.

In addition, Allegiant, which has grown as a company in the past decade, began service out of Pittsburgh and Cleveland. That expansion signaled a change in priorities that did not bode well for Youngstown-Warren.

Last April, we made note of the opinion of Bob Mann, an aviation industry analyst, with regard to the decision-making by air carriers.

Mann said the financial bottom line and the shortage of pilots and other crew members are forcing airlines to take a hard look at where to provide service.

“At the end of the day it is a carrier’s market, not an airport’s market,” the analyst said. “There are just so many opportunities for these airlines.”

The failure of Great Lakes JetExpress to make a go of its Youngstown-to- Chicago daily flights and last week’s revelation of Allegiant’s pullout in January are cause for concern.

We repeat our call for a regionwide meeting of government, business, labor and community leaders to discuss the future of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.