For several months in early 2017, North Central West Virginia Airport Director Rick Rock would wake up knowing that there was more than just a good chance he was going to receive news that daily flight service provider ViaAir had scrapped their flights.

 

Whether it was weather, mechanical or any other issue, things got so bad with ViaAir that in after starting service on Oct. 1 of 2016, the service was terminated in April of 2017 after the airline went five straight days canceling its flights.

 

Fast forward to late 2017 and into January of 2018. ViaAir is long gone and in its place is SkyWest flying under the United Express banner. Starting on Nov. 2, United Express began providing daily service from Bridgeport to two major hubs – Chicago’s O’Hare Airport and Washington-Dulles International Airport.  

 

Not only has the transition been better than expected, but United Express has done something since it started two and a half months ago that ViaAir never could say in its last several months – it hasn’t missed a flight due to bad weather.

 

Despite the heavy snow and frigid temperatures frequently creeping into the negative degrees, Rock said the weather of the past few weeks has only forced a few delays and not a single cancellation.

 

“The weather has been horrendous and we haven’t had a cancellation,” said Rock. “I think it speaks volumes to the work of United and their operations, but also the work of the airport staff going above and beyond having to work in temperatures often in temperatures that are really low."

 

Ironically, Rock made that statement after Wednesday's Airport Authority meeting. Just prior to it the meeting starting, Operations Supervisor Ron Cochran could be seen operating equipment to de-ice a United plane that was leaving to avoid having to cancel a flight.

 

“We have had some delays, some short and some longer, but in the past this would have automatically been canceled,” Rock continued. “Still, it’s really going well during a time period with cold weather where flying numbers go down a little bit.”

 

While Rock and other members of the Benedum Airport Authority – the airport’s governing body – are hoping to get flight numbers up, they know the numbers in the first two months of operations for the flights are good.

 

In November, the daily flights had 1,019 passengers. In December, the number dropped off a bit to 928.

 

“I think we still need to get the word out about what we have here and even erase some confusion. Some people believe the SkyWest/United addition replaced our Allegiant flights (to Orlando and seasonal to Myrtle Beach),” said Rock. “We’re going to keep on getting the message out and know they can trust us again. Gaining trust is key because a lot of people missed flights through ViaAir. The numbers we have in these first two months blow away what Via was providing.”

 

Rock’s argument would be hard to debate. The last four months Via operated – from January 2017 to the latter part of April of the same year – the daily service only provided flights to a total of 484 passengers.

 

“We were in the hundreds a lot of months with Via and even years ago with prior daily air service a good month was around 500 so this is a good sign,” said Rock. “A better sign is waking up and knowing that almost certainly a delay is the worst thing you’re going to deal with and that a passenger knows they’re going to get to their destination.”

 

The SkyWest/United service is provided through the federal Essential Air Service program. When ViaAir’s contract was terminated the airport managed to get the new proposal from SkyWest that not only has proven reliable, but replaced prop planes with jet service. 

 

Editor's Note: Ron Cochran is shown treating the United Express jet prior to taking off shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday at the NCWV Airport in Bridgeport.