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Public deserves answers before port moves on

Last month’s resignation of longtime Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport Director of Aviation Dan Dickten brings a good opportunity for change.

But before any search for Dickten’s replacement begins in earnest, local leaders, including Western Reserve Port Authority officials, Trumbull and Mahoning county commissioners and even economic development experts outside the port authority, should come together to re-evaluate future needs and goals of the airport and the agency that runs it.

It’s no secret the airport has struggled to maintain regularly scheduled commercial flights. Yet, year after year this small airport in Vienna Township has operated by collecting and spending taxpayer funds.

For about 14 years, the airport had operated with no regularly scheduled daily commercial flights. That finally changed in 2016 when the facility landed daily flights with a startup carrier ADI, Inc. The daily connector flights were supposed to link the Mahoning Valley seamlessly through Chicago with the world.

But despite dumping tens of thousands of federal grant dollars into the deal to guarantee the airline’s profitability, the flights were short-lived. Problems came to light on things like booking challenges, transferring to connecting flights and even checking luggage beyond the first flight leg to Chicago. The challenges proved to be insurmountable, leading to a quick decline in passengers and eventually to the local port authority pulling the plug on the contract.

As one would expect, that was followed by expensive civil suits.

Earlier this year, Allegiant Air, the vacation destination airline that flew several times per week out of Vienna for about 10 years, also ended its local flights.

Now the airport is operating with no regularly scheduled commercial flights. Still yet, taxpayers foot the bill for the facility that has become a hub more for private aircraft, charter flights and, of course, the shared runway with the adjacent and vitally important Youngstown Air Reserve Station.

We think it’s time for port authority officials to conduct an in-depth and honest examination of the challenges this small airport faces along with its real opportunities for the future. To begin the hiring process without such an authentic introspection, we believe, would be ill-advised.

The time is now to seek answers and then be transparent with the community about where and how tax money is being spent, and where we go from here.

Undoubtedly taxpayers deserve this explanation, and we call on the port authority to offer it in an annual “State of the Port” address.

That address should be accompanied by documentation outlining revenue and spending, comparative payroll numbers through the years, and measurable successes or failures of projects for all port authority operations, including both the aviation and economic development arms.

It also should include opportunities for follow-up questions from the public.

All public entities should be held accountable. The Western Reserve Port Authority should be no exception.

Exactly where are we going and how much is it costing? Those are logical questions that deserve answers.

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