PITTSTON TWP. — Carl Beardsley, the Executive Director of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, stated to the Bi-County Airport Board on Thursday that he had a lot of good news to share – and he delivered on that promise.
Beardsley mentioned that the number of people boarding planes at the airport increased by 24.8% in February, the available seats went up by 21.7%, and the airlines' load factors rose by two percentage points.
“We’re definitely seeing a trend here,” Beardsley said. “And I also want to report a big number — Breeze Airlines is already reporting a 91% load factor.”
After being absent for a long time, non-stop flights from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport to Orlando, Florida, resumed on Jan. 30. The airport had not provided direct flights to Florida since Allegiant Air stopped in December 2017.
In other business, the board:
• Heard from John Slotterback, the Supervisory PPQ Officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who praised the airport's Lantern Fly Program. Slotterback gave certificates of appreciation to Beardsley to be distributed to various airport departments.
• Thanked four members of the Airport Ambassadors team for their devoted volunteer service to assist customers:
— Ed Handel, Exeter, 6,150 hours.
— John Bergen, Pittston Township, 5,125 hours.
— Bette Lou Brundage, Moscow, 2,100 hours.
— Rita Skechus, Duryea, 2,050 hours.
Eric McKitish, the airport’s Director of Marketing and Air Service Development, said all four started as Ambassadors when the program was founded on May 25, 2006.
