By RANDY GRIFFITH
JOHNSTOWN — Airport leaders are presenting their case for improved passenger service during a series of events today leading up to a reception for local businesses to demonstrate support for the airport.
Several executives from commuter service operator Colgan Air and its parent company, Pinnacle Airlines Corp., will be at the John Murtha Johns-town-Cambria County Airport today for meetings with airport authority members and other leaders.
The airline representatives will stay for a Greater Johns-town/Cambria County Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event from 5 to
7 p.m. at the terminal.
“We thought it would be a good idea to have a mixer up at the airport,” authority member Larry Hoover said. “We want to have input into the service.”
Hoover, a retired United Airlines marketing manager, was named to the authority this year after launching a personal campaign to reinstate a fourth daily round-trip from Johns-town to Washington Dulles International Airport.
The early-morning flight to Washington was discontinued last year because of low ridership, just as the airport authority was ramping up a marketing campaign.
“People have been telling us they want to use the airport, but they can’t make the connections,” Hoover said. “We needed numbers.”
Hoover chairs an authority committee that surveyed local business people about travel.
They were asked how often employees travel by air, what airport they use, if they try to use the Johnstown airport and reasons they don’t use Johnstown.
Survey results will be presented this afternoon to Philip Reed, Pinnacle vice president of marketing, and other Pinnacle and Colgan executives during a meeting with airport leaders.
Hoover said 248 business travelers are using other airports, but many said they would prefer to fly from Johnstown.
“That is the most positive thing we got out of it,” Hoover said. “That is what we need to show them.”
National and international flights leaving Dulles are grouped in specific time periods designed to optimize travel convenience, Hoover said.
With the first Johnstown flight arriving in Washington at 11:30 a.m., travelers miss at least one “bank” of flights to other major cities, he said.
Those returning to Washington later than 4:45 p.m. will not be scheduled on the final 5:30 p.m. flight to Johnstown.
Hoover would like to see the commuter plane in Johnstown overnight, allowing for an early departure and late return. That was the original arrangement when Colgan took over the federally subsidized commuter service operating through United Airways Express.
“The businessman would be able to do a one-day business trip,” Hoover said. “That would help the business traveler. For the leisure traveler, there would be more (connecting) flights to choose from. You are going to find some lower airfares.”
