Shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, a United Express airplane left the North Central West Virginia Airport. This flight was bound for Chicago.

 

There was nothing unusual about it. United Express has flown hundreds of flights out of the airport in the past few years as part of its daily flight service to Chicago and Washington, D.C. What was unique was it was the first flight since Sunday out of Bridgeport due to weather.

 

“There was cancellation of flights over the last few days due to unsafe weather conditions,” said NCWV Airport Director Rick Rock prior to the state of yesterday’s Benedum Airport Authority meeting. “The storm that hit Sunday brought a lot of ice and ice is a major nemesis.”

 

Coupling the layer of ice that enveloped the runway, more than three inches of snow, and cold temperatures through Tuesday was a lack of sunshine. All of those factors hampered staff working 12 hour shifts since the storm from being able to safely clear the runway.

 

“We got the snow of the runway Monday, but it was getting the ice to melt,” said Rock. “We finally got the sunshine we needed (Wednesday) and that, along with treating the runway, allowed us to get flights going again.”

 

Rock said, as the airport usually does during a weather situation, officials were doing an after-action study. The purpose is to see what could be done differently to help mitigate future issues.

 

The problem with the salt treatment used is that any melting that took place was neutralized by freezing wind gusts on the ridge that houses the runway. That, couple with no sunshine, led to the inability to clear the runway.

 

Already, a new method will shortly be put into place for treatment. Rock said the airport will be looking into what is essentially a liquid salt treatment that can be placed down on the runway before and after a snow event – similar to what the West Virginia Division of Highways has been utilizing.

 

Currently, the salt application for a weather event is in the neighborhood of $4,000. The liquid method will be between $10,000 and $12,000 per application.

 

“It’s certainly worth it to get travelers home or to their destination and we’re going in that direction moving forward,” said Rock.

 

The airlines began preemptively announcing flights being canceled on Sunday as they knew the conditions that were going to hit the area. He said airlines, such as a canceled Allegiant flight Monday, worked to try to get a second flight in place. Unfortunately, plans for a Tuesday Allegiant flight to Orlando did not work out either.

 

“We thought we would get back open earlier, but it is always safety first,” said Rock. “It was not a lack of effort from our staff who worked non-stop for a period of more than 36 hours.”

 

Rock is aware another system was expected overnight. He said travelers should look for communication from the airlines to see the status of today’s flights as more ice is possible.

 

“We have every intention of being open, but we can’t control what we can’t control,” said Rock.

 

Benedum Airport Authority President David Hinkle praised staff after reviewing numbers for the year. The airport had 36,685 passengers despite the pandemic, which is the third highest total ever at the airport, and just short of 2019’s record total of 42,829.

 

“I think it is absolutely amazing we came that close to where we were two years ago,” said Hinkle.

 

More from the meeting in the days ahead on Connect-Bridgeport.

 

Editor's Note: Above, a plow clears snow from the runway in a file photo, while the United Express flight departs just after 2 p.m. Wednesday. NCWV Airport Director Rick Rock is shown in the third photo, while the iced runway is shown after snow was removed this week.