JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Discussions continued Wednesday between John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport officials and SkyWest Airlines to enable the jet carrier to continue serving the region.
SkyWest officials released a brief statement to The Tribune-Democrat, stating that they are seeking additional “schedule flexibility” beyond the parameters of what their current U.S. Department of Transportation contract stipulates.
“Our preference is to maintain flights in (Johnstown),” the company’s corporate communications staff wrote. “As we address an ongoing crew staffing imbalance, we have continued to work on solutions that would allow us to keep the airport connected to the National Air Transportation System.”
Right now, SkyWest provides daily nonstop flights to and from Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles international airports aboard 50 seat jets under the United Airlines banner.
During the past 12 consecutive months, the airport has flown just over 20,000 passengers to or from the airport, including more than 10,000 departure “enplanements” – a target the airport hasn’t reached in 15 years.
Airport Manager Corey Cree said the community has responded to SkyWest’s improved reliability and the addition of jet service over the smaller turboprop planes that were previously offered.
“The authority wants to continue working with them to keep jet service here at the airport,” he said.
The airport authority voted Wednesday to enable its enplanement committee to work to hammer out a final agreement with the carrier. If an agreement is reached, the committee was authorized to issue a letter of support for the idea to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which has the final say over whether SkyWest can continue serving the region.
The company filed a notification letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in March to end service to Johnstown and 29 other Essential Air Service cities. A formal request to rescind that letter also would have to be approved by federal transportation officials.