Scouting Report

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Sets New Annual Passenger Record

For the second time in three years, the local airport broke its annual passenger record with one month left.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport had 22,790 people pass through its departure gates through November, putting the annual total at 273,186, or almost 5,000 more than the previous record, 268,197 in 2017.

Breaking the annual record caps a year that saw record monthly departure numbers between January and September, though the airport will likely fall short of 300,000, which seemed possible midyear.

United Airlines’ decision to drop a daily flight to Chicago starting in October cost the airport the milestone, but airport Director Carl Beardsley Jr. remains pleased at the annual performance. For the first 11 months, the airport departures have risen 12.5% over the same period last year.

“We’re optimistic for next year,” Beardsley said. “It would be difficult to sustain that level of growth, but incremental growth is definitely within our grasp.”

The airport added United Express service to Washington, D.C., in October 2018 and another flight to Chicago and that carried over into this year.

The airport also benefitted from a full year of additional American Airlines flights to Charlotte, North Carolina, Philadelphia and Chicago, which all began in 2018.

The airlines also added larger planes because planes were better than 80% full monthly.

Beardsley said the nation’s strong economy unquestionably contributed to higher ridership.

“It’s not only the people who (when) the economy does better, they have more discretionary income to spend,” Beardsley said. “I think we’re also seeing additional business traffic. The businesses of the community are doing well. They’re sending salespeople out to meet with their clients and that of course helps the airport to grow.”

Beardsley said the airport’s “next, great leap” in flights and departures will require more flights.

“We’re always after new service, whether it be additional service with the carriers that we have there today. But of course, we’re also aggressively pursuing additional airlines that can provide service, a needed service to our community,” he said.

Beardsley said he keeps tabs on local economic expansion and informs airlines of the potential for more customers.

“They know how many people get on the flights. They don’t know what our economy is all about,” he said. “And we’ve got a strong message when it comes to our economy.”

Restoring service to Florida that disappeared with the loss of Allegiant Airlines in January 2018 remains elusive.

“It’s certainly never anything that you can guarantee, but it’s certainly at the top of our priority list,” Beardsley said. “We certainly have heard from the community how important service is, going to Florida markets.”

He said airlines have met the need for now with hubs that serve Florida.

The increase in departures has helped the airport’s bottom line. Next year, the airport projects a surplus of about $108,000. That includes a subsidy of $285,000 from Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, which jointly own the airport, assistant Director Gary Borthwick said. The subsidy basically covers employee pension payments.

Borthwick said the airport could eventually break even without the subsidy if things keep looking up.

“We get an ultra-low-cost carrier and that’ll bump us right back up,” he said.