Johnstown airport’s flights to D.C. will depart earlier over holiday season, allowing morning connections to Florida

By David Hurst dhurst@trib.com November 1, 2024

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Travelers flying south from Johnstown for the holidays will be able to get an early start in December.

John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport’s commercial carrier bumped its daily departures to Washington Dulles International Airport to 6:25 a.m., on average, to better position travelers for Florida connections, Airport Manager Cory Cree said. Some flights depart at 6:10 a.m.

It’s a temporary move, with the schedule in place from Dec. 13 through Jan. 6, but it’s one that airport officials have been requesting, Cree said.

The altered average takeoff time will be more than four hours earlier than the current departure schedule. And it will enable connections that will land travelers in Florida around 11 a.m. the same day.

SkyWest Airlines’ United Express-branded flights will arrive in the Washington, D.C., area by 7:30 a.m., in time for morning flights to Florida cities such as Tampa, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, United Airlines’ website shows.

That means southbound travelers will be able to land at their destinations anywhere from four hours and 20 minutes (Jacksonville) to a little more than five hours (Fort Lauderdale and Orlando) after their jet prepares to depart from Johnstown.

“We’re really pleased with our holiday schedule,” Cree said. He added that he hopes local travelers will be pleased, too.

By comparison, Johnstown-area residents flying out of Pittsburgh International Airport often spend the same amount of time, or more, driving to the Moon Township airport, parking and going through the screening process.

Recent advisories have urged travelers to arrive at the Pittsburgh airport three hours prior to their departures, particularly during busy periods.

By comparison, Johnstown airport passengers with printed boarding passes are advised to arrive for flights 45 minutes before departure if they do not have bags, or 60 minutes ahead of time with bags. Johnstown airport officials often market the convenience of flying locally, with the airport offering free parking and brief screening times.

United Express service has enabled the airport’s annual passenger numbers to more than double over the past few years – up to more than 28,000 inbound and outbound passengers yearly.

But Cree said airport officials recognized the current daily departure time to Washington Dulles – just before 11 a.m. – often doesn’t line up with the prime window to catch flights to some of the most in-demand travel destinations, especially in Florida.

Johnstown airport officials are still working with SkyWest Airlines on potential solutions for a more permanent early Johnstown-to-D.C. departure, Cree said.

2025 schedule will also change

For now, SkyWest’s 2025 schedule for Johnstown will bring other changes, effective Jan. 7. Cree said that will also mean earlier departures than the airport currently offers.

The difference is that the early flight will be to Johnstown’s other direct destination – Chicago O’Hare International Airport. As currently scheduled, the flight to Chicago will take off at 8:33 a.m. from Johnstown.

The Johnstown-to-D.C. flight will depart at 3:22 p.m.

Cree said the change will connect travelers with a second window of departures from D.C., while also giving local residents an improved flight to Chicago.

O’Hare is not only United’s largest hub, but also serves as a hub or focus city for American, Frontier and Spirit airlines, contributing to many of the airport’s nearly 1,000 daily U.S. departures and 111 daily flights to international destinations, its website shows.

“This will get our passengers to Chicago at 9:40 a.m., which is something we’ve asked for in the past,” Cree said, “and we think these changes are going to provide a lot of opportunities for connections. I’m sure SkyWest did their due diligence before making these changes.”

Cree credited SkyWest’s willingness to work with local officials – and the Johnstown-area community’s support for helping better position the airport for continued success.

“I think our improved passenger traffic helped” make a case for the scheduling changes, he said. “Those numbers help SkyWest’s business as much as they help us. … And we really appreciate the support we’re getting from the community, the business travelers and leisure travelers for (driving up) our enplanement numbers.”

Lunar rover team leader honored by Aerium Women in Aviation committee

June 3rd, 2024 By Randy Griffith  rgriffith@tribdem.com

Raewyn Duvall accepts the Helen Ritchy award for women in aviation from Aerium Women in Aviation Committee Chairwoman Heather Tomasko on May 30th, 2024

Raewyn Duvall displays the Helen Ritchy Award for Women in aviation from Aerium Women in Aviation Committee.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Stuck in a corner of the Aerium Summit exhibitors’ hangar this week, many visitors may have missed the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute display.

The display included a prototype for Iris, the robotic lunar rover built for NASA’s Peregrine Mission One, launched earlier this year to explore the moon.

Although systems in the lander prevented Iris from reaching the lunar surface, NASA still gained valuable information about how the lunar rover responded to the conditions of space.

Among the display hosts was Raewyn Duvall, program manager for the team of about 300 Carnegie Mellon students who developed the shoebox-sized rover.

Her contributions to the aviation and aerospace industry earned her the Aerium Women in Aviation Committee’s first Helen Richey award. Named for a McKeesport native who set several world aviation records and became the first female commercial pilot, the award recognizes women for their contributions to the field of aviation.

“Raewyn’s dedication and enthusiasm for aviation exemplify the spirit of innovation and perseverance that we aim to cultivate in our industry,” committee chairwoman Heather Tomasko said during the presentation ceremony.

“She is a role model for aspiring female aviators, and we are thrilled to recognize her achievements.”

The award included a certificate and a monetary donation to the Women in Aerospace Foundation, which is establishing a new scholarship in Duvall’s name.

Duvall said she hopes the honor will encourage more young people from different areas of education to consider aviation and aerospace studies.

“I think the one thing I bring is the unique perspective of being a woman who wasn’t just focused on aerospace,” she said. “I never sought an aerospace degree. I did English – short stories and sci-fi. I don’t look like a typical engineer. I can inspire generations that are always like, ‘Oh, I’m not the math nerd, so I can’t be in aerospace.’ That’s just not true. I think that that’s huge.”

 

Lt. governor points to aviation ‘workforce of the future’ at Aerium Summit; drone delivery project’s progress promoted

By Randy Griffith rgriffith@tribdem.com May 30th, 2024

 

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis (right) highlights grant money from Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites (PA SITES) pilot program during a news conference at the future site of Cell-Con Inc. in Bedford County Business Park #1 on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. At left, Mike Hanna Jr., Pa. Department of Community & Economic Development executive deputy secretary, looks on.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Aviation education and expanding the use of drones are becoming hallmarks of the Johnstown region, expanding the economy and bringing new opportunities, speakers said Thursday at the Aerium Summit’s morning general session.

Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky called attention to the partnership between John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, Nulton Aviation Services and the local aviation-focused nonprofit Aerium, commending their team approach toward progress.

“Go figure: St. Francis University in Loretto training mechanics and pilots,” Chernisky said. “We’ve been watching a new economy being built at our airport.”

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis reinforced thoughts during his remarks on the forward-looking aviation initiatives being developed in the Johnstown area.

“As the governor often says, ‘the Shapiro-Davis administration is competitive as hell,’ ” Davis said. “We’re tired of losing to our neighboring states like Ohio and West Virginia. That’s why we want to support great industries right here in Pennsylvania, such as aviation and aerospace.”

Davis, who recently hosted the first-ever Aerospace Day at the state Capitol, said he heard a lot about aviation workforce shortages from participants.

“St. Francis University, you all are creating a workforce of the future,” Davis said, highlighting the “pipeline” connecting students, education and the aviation industry.

“Aerium is preparing the next generation to learn, grow and fly,” he said.

Speakers extended their optimism to the Aerium Summit’s other showcased industry, drones – in particular, the drone emergency medical supply system being developed by a collaboration of organizations, including the Cambria County Emergency Management Agency and the county Geographic Information Systems department.

In March, the county got a state grant of nearly $2 million to install towers and build a network for drones to deliver medicine in the event of heart attacks, severe allergy attacks, drug overdoses and more.

On Thursday, Art Martynuska, Cambria County EMA coordinator, and Steve Kocsis, the county’s GIS director, updated the Aerium Summit audience on progress.

“It’s been three years in the making, and it’s coming to reality,” Chernisky said, introducing the two leaders. “This program has the potential to be a blueprint of drone delivery systems for medical care of our nation. The Johnstown-Cambria County airport is creating a center of excellence for drone delivery systems.”

Kocsis showed video of test flights in which drones were launched at the same time emergency vehicles were dispatched to a scene. In each case, the drones’ response time beat the vehicle’s time.

The one exception was when a drone went out of visual line of sight behind some trees. The drone had to land because of Federal Aviation Administration regulations, Kocsis said, noting that the local project has received an exception from the line-of-sight rule if the local system of towers and sensors can take over.

“The SMART (Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation) grant that we’re working on is to help us get beyond that line of sight,” he said.

Going back through county records, officials estimate drones could have assisted in 800 emergency calls over the past five years. Research showed it could have cut response times by 82%.

“It’s a phenomenal tool; it’s going to save thousands of lives,” Kocsis said.