Youngstown-Chicago Flights End

Scheduled airline service between Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and Chicago has ended after local officials ceased funding it.

The last flights operated on Aug. 24, after the Western Reserve Port Authority decided on Aug. 17 to end its support of the flights, which were flown by Great Lakes Jet Express.

Aerodynamics, Incorporated, which the port authority was paying to operate the flights, said in a news release that the discontinuance of financial support prompted the move.

The end of service occurred less than two months after it began on July 1. Youngstown continues to be served by low-fare carrier Allegiant Air and a charter operator that has periodic flights to casinos in New Jersey and Mississippi.

The Chicago service had been the first daily scheduled service to Youngstown in 14 years and airport officials say they continue to seek other carriers to serve the airport.

The Western Reserve board said one reason why it pulled it financial support was the discovery that ADI did not have a code sharing arrangement with United Airlines as it thought.

A code sharing arrangement means that a carrier has interline agreements for ticketing and baggage transfer with other carriers.

United had initially listed Great Lakes flights to Youngstown but removed them nine days before the service began.

Youngstown officials said they discovered that United had a code sharing agreement with ADI but not with Great Lakes.

“The interline agreement we thought we had, we didn’t,” said Dan Dickten, director of aviation for the airport. “We were told there would be a resolution on that and there wasn’t and we knew it was going to fail.”

Consequently, passengers had to buy separate tickets for connecting flights and go through security screening again in Chicago.

Great Lakes offered 19 flights per week using Embrarer regional jet equipment and connected with JetBlue, Delta and American , but Dickten said not having connections with United connection meant the service missed out on 60 percent of the market.

“We would never had started ticket sales had we known that there wouldn’t be an interline agreement with United Airlines,” he said.

Dickten said the Western Reserve board didn’t want to continue funding a service that was losing money and not attracting many passengers.

During July, Great Lakes had a load factor of 31 percent, which was well short of the 45 percent that Youngstown airport officials wanted to see.

For the flights to be profitable, patronage would need to be 85 to 90 percent or $8,500 per day in ticket revenue.

Funding for the Chicago-Youngstown service came from a $780,000 federal grant and $420,000 from a local hotel-bed tax fund and other sources.

Thus far, Youngstown-Warren airport had given ADI more than $361,000 for the service.

Western Reserve Port Authority Executive Director John Moliterno said the money allotted to ADI that has not been spent would be used to fund another service if possible.

“People want to fly out of this airport,” he said. “They appreciate the convenience we have, that’s what we have to offer. We’re going to continue to try to sell that. We’re going to offer that same thing to other airlines to encourage them to fly out of our airport, because we know that our people want to fly.”

Tags: Aerodynamics Inc., airline service, airline service in Northeast Ohio, airlines in Northeast Ohio, Allegiant Air, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Great Lakes Jet Express, Northeast Ohio air service, Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport