While air service was discussed as it always is during the monthly meeting of the Benedum Airport Authority, details on a conference in Las Vegas with destination service provider Allegiant was not.

 

However, it was briefly mentioned at the October meeting of the North Central West Virginia Airport’s governing body. During the October meeting, NCWV Airport Director Rick Rock said the meeting went well.

 

The Allegiant Conference, which was more than a month ago, was held in Las Vegas. Rock told the Authority he heavily pitched a few new destinations but added that he handled other matters well. Those matters beyond adding new destinations are critical.

 

“Goal number one is to maintain what you already have. There are a lot of airports losing service, so our first thing is to maintain what we have and be sure we are performing up to their standards when we met with them,” said Rock. “It’s mainly about performing under their business model. The good news is we got a good report card.”

 

The better news? According to Rock, it’s his understanding the existing destination flights offered by Allegiant out of Bridgeport – Orlando, Myrtle Beach, and Destin – will continue. Orlando will continue as a year-round service, while Myrtle Beach and Destin will be back during the summer travel season.

 

“After that, we pitched new air service, but we know even though we’re doing well and have good numbers it comes down to what type of aircraft and the number of aircraft that are available and what Allegiant believes is the best way to put those assets to use,” said Rock.

 

Rock said the two main pushes were similar to those in the past. While he did not get an answer, he also did not get a denial.

 

“We continue to push the gulf side of Florida. We’re very interested in Tampa, Punta Gorda and all points in between,” said Rock. “We once again pushed Nashville because it is intriguing and it’s up and coming and growing. We think it will be a great destination and it is one we have received a lot of public feedback on.”

 

For those thinking those were the only destinations, that would be incorrect. Rock said multiple other destination were discussed.

 

“You don’t want to sound like a hog at these meetings, but we believe we can be the asset they’re looking for. We believe that based on our record,” said Rock. “We also told Allegiant we would like to increase our Myrtle Beach time frame and frequencies as well as with Orlando and Destin. We don’t know if it will happen, but the pitch has again been made.”

 

The pitches have worked in the past. This past year saw Orlando go from roughly 10 months a year to year-round. Myrtle also picked up additional weekly flights even if the time period for those flights remained the same.

 

“There are 120 cities coming to these annual conferences and getting report cards that go through the same process we’re going through,” said Rock. “That’s who we’re in competition with for airplane assets. We’re likely the smallest city in the entire group, but I always feel good about our chances because of the service we offer and because of the community support we receive.”