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VIENNA – For the first time in more than a decade, a plane bound for Chicago O’Hare International Airport departed from the Youngstown Warren Regional Airport Friday morning.
The 49-passenger seat aircraft carrying 37 people left around 9:30 a.m. as the inaugural flight of the new Great Lakes Jet Express daily commercial service at the local airport in Vienna.
“It’s a great feeling to finally be able to see Chicago up on the (information display) board,” said Dan Dickten, aviation direct at the Vienna airport. “It’s a good day.”
The local airport has been without daily commercial service for 14 years. Among the passengers were airport officials, including Dickten; members of the Western Reserve Port Authority, which oversees operations at the local airport; local news reporters; and community members.
Mark and Mary Crissman of Newton Falls boarded the plane to meet their daughter and attend the 50th annual Junior Tamburitza Festival in Chicago with her.
“I love the fact that the airport is so close and that now we have the opportunity to have flights like this so close to home,” Mary Crissman said. “It’s more convenient, and I think the smaller airport might help ease any nervousness someone might have, especially if they’re new to flying.”
The local airport has been without daily commercial service since 2002 when Northwest Airlines, which provided service to Detroit, ceased operations. In June 2014, the port authority approved an operating and use agreement with Kennesaw, Ga.-based Aerodynamics Inc. to restart daily passenger flights. Soon after, ADI asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to upgrade the airline’s certification to allow the carrier to provide the commercial service.
In May, after nearly two years of setbacks and delays, ADI finally received word from the USDOT that the carrier could proceed with its flight plan. Last month, ADI announced it had branded the new service Great Lakes Jet Express and the carrier would fly the 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 Regional Jet Aircraft.
Planes are being stationed and maintained at the local airport by Winner Aviation. Great Lakes is operating its own ticket counter in Vienna and sharing a ticket counter at O’Hare, Dickten said.
Jack Sullivan, the airport’s maintenance/operations superintendent, said “things have come full circle” since he started working at the local airfield in 1973.
“We had flights to Chicago then and this place was hopping with people,” he said. “It’s good to see the flights to Chicago back again. It’s a new era, the beginning of something really good for this community.”
Dale Wright of Liberty boarded the plane to see his daughter and grandson, who live in Chicago.
“It’s convenient for me, a lot more than having to go to Cleveland to catch a flight,” he said. “I typically go maybe once a year, but now I’ll be able to see them more often. It will make things a lot easier.”
Travelers cited shorter lines and wait times, the convenience of having the service close by and cheaper parking fees among their reasons for choosing to fly from Vienna.
Ray DeCarlo, Youngstown zoning inspector, said the last time he flew from Vienna to Chicago was around 1970 when he was in the military and on his way to Great Lakes Navy Base.
“We need this. This is a global economy and if we’re going to compete we have to have stuff life this,” he said. “It’s a good thing for this region to have a daily connection to one of the biggest hubs there is.”
ADI leaders were at the local airport at the end of March to announce plans to start service June 1. They moved the date to June 13, then again to July 1, after USDOT requested more information and expressed concerns over whether the airline was financially fit to provide the service. However, in May USDOT gave ADI the OK to proceed.
Dickten said the airport is counting on community support to make the new flight service a success.
“This is something the community has communicated to us that they wanted,” he said. “But this is where the hard part starts, getting out here and supporting it. We need the community to show this service is important to them.”