BAA closes out summer season, touts the airport's growth and success
Sep. 28—BRIDGEPORT — With fall here and the vacation travel boom over, the Benedum Airport Authority is celebrating a successful summer season.
The Authority, the governing body of the North Central West Virginia Airport, held its monthly meeting Tuesday afternoon. The meeting was kept short, but the board members and the airport personnel were sure to tout their successes throughout their busiest time of year.
Airport Director Rick Rock said he and his staff beat their target of enplanements, sponsored and held several events and moved forward with several major projects.
"It's been a busy 2022 so far. The multiple seasonal destinations we have over the summer all did very well and people seemed to really enjoy utilizing those services," Rock said. "We want to continue to offer those additional flight opportunities."
The Authority supported several aviation events over the summer as well. The Carl Hopkins Youth Aviation Expo, which took place at the end of August, and the Girls in Aviation Day, which was held this past weekend.
Ed Waske, coordinator of the youth expo, was at Tuesday's meeting and thanked the board for its support.
"We had 580 youth came through, with a total of around 1,100 including adults," Waske said. "Not only were we showing the kids, we were also educating the adults about the opportunities out there as well."
Girls in Aviation Day was a similar success with over 200 attendees turning out this past weekend to explore the options for young women and kids in general in the field of aviation.
These events are timely, as the need for employees in the aviation sector continues to grow rapidly in West Virginia. MHI RJ, an aircraft repair company at NCWV Airport, is in the process of constructing two large hangars on the property and will be expanding in the next several years.
Alongside the two hangar projects, the Authority recently cut the ribbon on the property which will become the new AeroTech Park and the airport's new terminal.
Construction on the terminal is expected to start next year.
Authority President and Marion County Commissioner Ernie VanGilder said that after the last two tough years in the travel industry, he's refreshed to see some growth and good things happening at the airport.
"We had a great summer, really. After the last two years we were dealt, our air service has continued to improve, and we had a great response from the community," VanGilder said. "We've grown a tremendous amount in the last few years. The last two years especially."
Another announcement taking shape is the replacement of SkyWest's flight services at NCWV Airport. In August, the Authority announced Contour Airlines would replace SkyWest for flights to Chicago and will be adding a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The transition will be official Nov. 30, at which point SkyWest will cease operations at NCWV Airport. Rock said customers with tickets through SkyWest for trips after the Nov. 30 cutoff should contact SkyWest's parent company United Airlines for information about reimbursement.
Tuesday's meeting was not all good news, however. Members from the nearby Maple Lake development in Bridgeport came to the meeting to voice concern over sediment pollution in their lake, which they attribute to the construction underway at the airport.
They requested cooperation with the Authority to resolve the issue. The board took no action Tuesday as the matter was not on the agenda, but VanGilder said the board will likely be reaching out soon.
"The folks at Maple Lake are an important part of the community and we do want to work with them to resolve the issue," VanGilder said. "We'll be meeting with them shortly, I'm sure."
Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.
