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Future of Vacation Express at Regional Airport 'Under Review'
By George NelsonVIENNA, Ohio -- A statement issued over the weekend by Vacation Express carries ominous overtones for the future of the passenger service at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, though an official with the company that provides the flights assures service will continue if local officials accept a revised flight schedule.The statement, e-mailed to The Business Journal by TRIO Media Group on behalf of Vacation Express, reported the decision "to stay or exit the Youngstown market is under review."On April 1, Vacation Express began flight service from the regional airport to the Orlando, Fla., area and Myrtle Beach, S.C. Officials in Mahoning and Trumbull counties gave the Western Reserve Port Authority, which operates the airport, $300,000 to market the new passenger service."The viability of Vacation Express is in no way effected by the decision to stay or exit the market," the company said in its statement. "Vacation Express is part of a $200 million company serving 11 cities and has been in business for over 14 years. Leaving the Wilkes-Barre/Youngstown route will have no effect on any other city or route served by Vacation Express."The statement -- the first indication that any review of passenger service from Youngstown-Warren was under way -- was issued in response to developments reported by news organizations serving the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., market, said Ron Slotin of TRIO Media. It noted that other airlines are negotiating to take over the route if Vacation Express exits Youngstown Warren.Vacation Express' agreement with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport is under scrutiny by the Federal Aviation Administration to determine whether the airport violated FAA regulations and improperly used airport revenues to subsidize the service. Local officials in the Wilkes-Barre area also are considering whether to continue their agreement past Sept. 9, when the current agreement expires, according to news accounts. With $600,000 in subsidies already approved, Luzerne County commissioners recently allocated another $125,000 in public funds to cover the carrier's losses and Lackawanna County commissioners are expected to approve a like amount Aug. 19 FAA rules prohibit airports from directly subsidizing airlines. Under investigation, according to the Scranton Times, is whether routing the subsidies through county boards of commissioners makes it legal.Vacation Express began service March 1 from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.When questioned about the subsidies from Mahoning and Trumbull counties for the Western Reserve Port Authority to promote Vacation Express ticket sales, a spokesman for the FAA's regional office in Des Plaines, Ill., told The Business Journal, "At this point, with limited research, we understand the funds used at [the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport] are to advertise the airport and its flights. This is done nationwide and does not violate FAA guidance."Vacation Express, whose flights are actually operated by Aviation Technologies Inc. of Avoca, Pa., recently announced flights from Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport would now originate in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where the flights would also return as their final destination. Slotin said Monday that the possible termination of the Wilkes-Barre service "is one of the issues" Vacation Express would have to consider. Vacation Express currently operates round-trip flights Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to Orlando with a stopover in Youngstown-Warren. The new schedule calls for flights on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and would begin in September if approved. However, Jim Gallagher, president of Aviation Technologies, countered that if Youngstown-Warren airport officials agree to the proposed schedule change, flights from Youngstown would continue regardless of what happens with Wilkes-Barre. "We're not going to leave anyone high and dry," Gallagher assured. If the Wilkes-Barre service stopped, he said, flights would continue to originate from Youngstown until it merged service with another city. He said other communities under consideration include Latrobe, Pa., and Hickory, Pa.. "There are other cities that are en route that would be perfect,' Gallagher continued. "It's just one of those scenarios of how to keep in the marketplace without oversupply and under-demand."According to Gallagher, the Youngstown service has "huge promise," with passenger bookings increasing each month. Reservations thus far in August show flight capacity nearly reaching the break-even point, he said.Once the break-even point is reached, Gallagher added, the service will then be able to begin repaying the subsidies. "So you really have an incentive to continue but it takes time," he said. "We all have to have the stamina -- including the financial stamina -- to stay in a market until we get to that point."He also said that "nothing is geared around one entity" in the contract. If, for example, Vacation Express decided not to continue under the agreement, it doesn't mean the service would stop. Steve Bowser, interim manager at Youngstown-Warren regional airport, said he didn't know when a decision might be made regarding the proposed flight schedule. "We're still in the middle of discussions of what is on the table," he explained. "There's all sorts of scenarios out there. We really haven't come to any final conclusion one way or another."Visit Vacation Express at www.vacationexpress.com Contact George Nelson at [email protected]"