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$1.6M Upgrade Set for Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport
By George NelsonVIENNA, Ohio -- An early August start-up is planned for a $1.6 million upgrade of the general aviation apron at the Youngstown Warren Regional Airport. "We have not given the contractor a notice to proceed. We were waiting on federal grant monies, the application's just come in so we're going to kick off the project next Thursday," said Daniel A. Petno, senior project manager for R.W. Armstrong, a Cleveland consulting firm retained by the Western Reserve Port Authority. Petno noted the asphalt and concrete pavements in and around the airport hangars have deteriorated over time. "The tenants that are in those hangars have been looking for some repairs for some time," he added.Petno, who spoke at yesterday's meeting of the port authority, the legal entity that operates the airport, said the project will be completed this year. Work will be broken into seven phases to maintain hangar access. Also beginning next week will be an $82,000 clearing of trees near the airport's main approach. Work also will begin in August on an updated master plan for the airport. Port authority board chairman Bill Reali said he expected an initial meeting Aug. 25 or 26. Board member Mike Harshman said that "all players at the airport" should be involved, though they should try to keep the meeting to no more than 25 people. Reali said he expected the process to take a full year from start to finish.Interim airport manager Steve Bowser said the current master plan is 10 years old. "Master planning basically looks at the future vision of how the airport is going to be used and what projects may have priority," he said. He does not expect any major modifications. While the current Base Realignment and Closure review of military bases -- such as the nearby Youngstown Air Reserve Station, which uses the airport's runways -- is "not a key component, it is a component, obviously," he added. Bowser said the airport had $89,909 in income for June, and $108,065 for disbursements. Year-to-date numbers for the airport are $438,472 received and $517,316 disbursed.The airport's sole regularly scheduled flight service, Vacation Express, which began April 1, is reporting flight occupancy around 80%, "very good numbers for a start-up," Bowser said."The load factor is key but let's keep in mind that it's the yield that really matters to the airlines, and that's the money that actually sticks down to their bottom pocket," he explained. Yield numbers in the first three months were low due to the number of discounted fares offered, "but in July the yields are much higher than they have been in the previous months because of the reduction in discount," he said. Board members expressed concern at the meeting over what they saw as minimal marketing of the service. Harshman said not having information out to the public has a negative impact. Bowser, who noted that the port authority is responsible for all marketing for the service, said that board member Bill Kelly, who was not at the meeting, has some thoughts on future marketing and wants to review the issue. Bowser acknowledged marketing efforts aren't helped by news accounts of episodes such Sunday's eight-hour delay in the Vacation Express flight departure but said it needed to be put into perspective, adding that delays are common. He said he received a call Monday morning -- after the delay had been reported on television newscasts Sunday -- from a woman who related she had experienced a five-hour flight delay at Cleveland the previous weekend, and questioned why it was being made an issue. "Unfortunately, we have one airline, one flight, and if we had 100 flights I wouldn't have been talking to you about it right now but we don't and it's magnified," Bowser said.Bowser also said the port authority is in discussion with several other carriers regarding potential service, including Hooters Air. The carrier, affiliated with the restaurant chain, would offer flights to its main hub in Myrtle Beach, "and from there you'd be able to go to Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and Nassau," he said.During the meeting, the board also accepted the resignation of member Martin Solomon. Contact George Nelson: [email protected]"