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McDougle: Enplanement numbers hit 10-year low at MOV Regional Airport

Interest remains strong in airport service

WILLIAMSTOWN — The Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport recorded the lowest number of enplanements in a decade in February as new carrier ViaAir canceled 58 percent of its flights.

Just 141 passengers flew out of the airport last month, compared to 259 in February 2016 under former carrier Silver Airways. Maintenance issues and a shortage of pilots facing many carriers contributed to the problem, airport Manager Jeff McDougle said, but he’s hoping the numbers will improve this month.

“In the last week, we’ve had a 100 percent (flight) completion factor out of Via,” he said during Tuesday’s Wood County Airport Authority meeting.

Via took over federally subsidized Essential Air Service at the local airport in October, recording strong enplanement numbers in the fourth quarter of 2016 with flights to Charlotte Douglas International Airport, along with service to St. Augustine, Fla., and Orlando. The company’s reliability at Raleigh County Memorial Airport made it attractive to both the local airport and others in the state when EAS service went out to bid.

But a company official last month acknowledged “growing pains” as the Florida-based carrier went from serving one West Virginia airport to five.

“I think Via got into it too much, too fast,” McDougle said Tuesday.

A Via official did not return a message seeking comment Tuesday.

The other airports in the state served by Via are having similar issues, McDougle said. So is the airport in Dubois, Pa., where a different carrier is facing a pilot shortage, he said.

Despite the problems, interest in the service remains strong, McDougle said. People have even driven here from Pittsburgh to fly out of the local airport because it’s cheaper, he said.

“If we just had the service, the passengers are there,” McDougle said.

Via plans to offer a third weekly flight to Orlando, starting in June, he said. The company is also finalizing an interline agreement to allow ticketing and baggage on its flights to connect with a major carrier operating out of Charlotte.

A proposal for a business partnership to operate out of the old West Virginia Air National Guard facility at the airport was on the agenda but not discussed Tuesday because representatives of the group did not attend.

“Part of it is just storing aircraft, but they want to look into flight schools. They want to get a charter up and running,” McDougle said.

He said he could not identify the entity involved at this time.

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