Rural Pennsylvanians feel stranded as commercial airline access continues to disappear

MONTOURSVILLE, Pa. — In the winter here, when ice flows down the west branch of the Susquehanna River, the numbers of passengers flying in and out of Williamsport Regional Airport can sometimes be counted on two hands.

On Monday afternoon, 12 people flew in from Philadelphia on an American Airlines 50-seat plane. In Williamsport’s new, $17 million terminal, seven passengers waited to board the airport’s lone, daily commercial flight back.

“That’s actually not a bad day for February,” Richard Howell, the airport’s executive director, said to an employee by baggage check.

A spokesperson for American Airlines told The Inquirer it would stop service to Williamsport on March 31 when the federal coronavirus payroll support program expires. People who live in this central Pennsylvania city of 28,562 and the vast rural area that surrounds it, though, say they count on the airport.

For Mary Styer, few viable options will remain once American ceases flights. On Monday, Styer, 73, was flying to Philly for a connection to Little Rock, her great-grandkids the final destination. Without it, she’d have to book a connecting flight out of another town, or cut the connection and make the 190-mile drive to Philadelphia International Airport.

“Oh Lord, no, I won’t do that,” she said.

Like every other airport worldwide, Williamsport weathered the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the cliff dive of commercial air travel: The airport’s 39,000 passengers in 2019 fell to just under 20,000 in 2020, according to federal aviation statistics. The cancellation of the annual Little League World Series and the 100,000 tourists it usually brings was an extra blow. No decision has been made on this year’s World Series, but the airport’s director and local officials are confident the business will rebound when the pandemic is truly over.

The airport has been at the whims of American Airlines’ ever-changing plans this past year: In February 2020, American announced that Williamsport would switch service from Philadelphia to Charlotte, N.C., beginning in August, what was seen as good news for Williamsport because Charlotte is a larger hub. But just two days after those flights to Charlotte began, American said it would suspend service entirely to 15 markets, including Williamsport, starting Oct. 7. Airports in Dubuque, Iowa; Roswell, N.M.; and Stillwater, Okla., were also among the 15.

American, in a statement at the time, said the “expiration of the air service requirements associated with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act” played a part in the decision-making.

In November, American stopped all service in Williamsport. In January, after additional federal COVID-19 relief funding was approved, flights resumed, but just once a day, in the afternoon, to and from Philadelphia. Howell said the flight times are inconvenient but soon, there won’t be any at all.

“They’re not here because they want to be,” Howell said of American. “They’re here because they have to be. We’re not on their schedule for April.”

Once that happens, travelers seeking to fly commercial would have to book out of Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport, University Park Airport in State College, or Harrisburg International Airport, all more than 50 miles away. Or they could travel to Philadelphia.

Howell has been busy trying to court another commercial carrier. He said he would like Delta or United to service Williamsport, but also said the airport hosts other, private flights.

Carl Adkins, president of the Aviation Council of Pennsylvania, said that by planning one inconvenient, round-trip flight to Philadelphia daily, American set itself up for failure.

“They’re losing money on those flights,” he said.

Lycoming County Commissioner Scott Metzger said the issue playing out at Williamsport, and other small, regional airports, is indicative of the larger struggles to get essential services in rural America.

“If the federal government is going to give airlines big subsidies, someone needs to be making sure the rural areas of our country, especially in Pennsylvania, have some kind of service,” he said.

Metzger said Williamsport’s airport is critical to seven colleges and universities, several large businesses, and two medical facilities in the surrounding counties.

Last week, in an aviation meeting held by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania that focused on Williamsport Regional Airport, Steve Keener, president of Little League International, said many of his employees, along with teams, coaches, and parents, have looked to other airports for service, even though they are farther away, because of cancellations and delays with American at Williamsport. Keener said he would often land in Philadelphia from other destinations, only to find that his flight to Williamsport was delayed or canceled, forcing him to rent a car or spend the night.

“If we had more dependable, more affordable, and more frequent — more frequent is key for us — flights to Williamsport, we’d welcome it,” he said. “

American did not participate in the meeting.

Styer said she’ll be faced with the same dilemma when she returns from Arkansas. She’ll miss the lone, daily flight back to Williamsport. Rather than rent a car and drive, she’ll spend a night at an airport hotel in Philadelphia to catch the next day’s flight.

“It’s not great,” she said, “but I have no other option.”