A little more than a year ago, North Central West Virginia Airport Director Rick Rock said he was confident the new daily air service provider – United Express through Skywest – was going to finally provide quality daily service. And he said once that happened, numbers at the airport would gradually increase.

 

A year later, Rock’s words were prophetic. United Expresses daily flight service to Chicago and Washington, D.C. have produced the highest numbers since pre-9/11. At that time, U.S. Air was providing service and since that time the airport saw its daily service drop by thousands.

 

It was in 2001 the airport last saw its daily flight service provider top 10,000 enplanements – or passengers flying out of Bridgeport.

 

As of September, that number has already been surpassed. United Express has handled 11,360 passengers through September and that number will certainly be higher. New totals will be revealed Monday when Rock updates the Benedum Airport Authority, the airport’s governing body.

 

“We were waiting for the right partner and Skywest and United Express have been just that,” said Rock. “The positive thing is that even with the positive numbers we can really expand our number of enplanements.”

 

Here’s the even better news. When the Allegiant flights to Orlando and Myrtle Beach are added to that total along with charter flights primarily by West Virginia University and Big 12 athletic programs, the airport – through September – had 27,280 passengers. That total surpassed the total for all of 2017, which saw 25,835 passengers.

 

“The big jump is with United Express. We had to earn the trust of the traveler after several daily providers failed to meet expectations,” said Rock. “We’re getting that trust back.”

 

The previous providers, Silver and Via, were not just riddled with frequent delays. They were also riddled with continuous cancelations leaving travelers frustrated and opting to return to former traveling habits that generally meant getting connecting flights in Pittsburgh. Now, that’s changing.

 

“The reliability that we’ve had and the professionalism of those two along with our other services is bearing fruit,” said Rock. “To get that number shows we’re moving in the right direction. We still have room for growth, but people are taking to the service … The biggest thing is that we’re seeing people not just traveling from here, but also traveling back home from those destinations as well.”

 

With the final three months still to be tabulated, Rock and members of the Authority said the possibility is real to reach 40,000 passengers this year. That number is even more impressive when one considers the airport saw just 4,813 passengers in all of 2007.

 

Rock has stated multiple times his goal is to see 100,000 passengers. Whether it happens remains to be seen, but the numbers indicate that unlike a decade ago, it may actually be possible.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows NCWV Airport staff de-icing a plan to help make sure flights are not canceled through United Express, while Airport Director Rick Rock is shown below.