NCWV Airport Announces Aggressive Updated Plan to Land Daily, Destination Flight Services to Bridgeport
By Jeff Toquinto on August 26, 2026
For years, the North Central West Virginia Airport has tried to get its existing carriers to add flights and to even try and land new ones. While the facility is one of the busiest in West Virginia, it has found what the rest of the nation’s rural airports have found when looking to add new flights – it is difficult.
However, the existing competitive marketplace that focuses heavily on urban areas as opposed to rural areas is not stopping those at the 
NCWV Airport. Instead, they are about to ramp things up.
NCWV Airport. Instead, they are about to ramp things up.
With a new terminal at their disposal, and solid numbers showing with their existing two carriers, NCWV Airport Director Rick Rock said a long-time incentive plan will be updated, and new destinations will be heavily targeted.
Rock brought this up to receive the blessing of the Benedum Airport Authority during its Tuesday afternoon meeting – the first in the new terminal building. The Authority is the airport’s governing body.
The plan is the North Central West Virginia Airport Air Service Incentive Program.
“We’re updating our plan from the past where we’re identifying destinations and incentives to attract new services and new markets. It’s been around 10 years since we put that initial plan together and we want to update that,” said Rock.
The main update includes listing targets Rock said the NCWV Airport will “aggressively” be going after. The targets include Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, and a look again at Las Vegas. Others could be added based on community input.
“It’s a working document. A lot of this is based on the feedback we get from the community, said Rock.
That is why he mentioned Charlotte first, and why Charlotte is one of the flights the airport would love to get back.
For those who think the airport decided to drop the Charlotte flight that was never the case. The previous flight service provided by Contour to Charlotte Douglass International Airport was done through the FAA’s Essential Air Service (EAS) program. When the term EAS service came up for renewal, airlines bid to provide daily service to national airport hubs.
On July 22 of 2025, the Authority asked the FAA to approve the $5.7 million annual bid of American Airlines to provide the service. The bid included service to Charlotte Douglass International Airport.
The FAA did not accept the recommendation. Instead, it chose United Express, which has the current daily flights to Chicago and Washington, D.C.
The reason for the FAA’s decision? The United Express bid was cheaper – a four-year agreement with a first-year cost of $4.59 million as opposed to $5.7 million.
Several of the targets in the updated plan have been talked about for years with destination carrier Allegiant, which flies tens of thousands of individuals out of Bridgeport annually. They will be the main airline targeted at providing less-than-daily flights to places such as Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, and Las Vegas.
As for places such as Charlotte and Atlanta, daily flight providers will be sought.
“If you’re going to Charlotte, you want to fly American. If you’re going to Chicago, you want to fly United. If you’re going to Atlanta, you want to fly Delta,” said Rock. “We’d be happy to have them all, but it is Charlotte that makes the most sense.”
Charlotte makes sense for several reasons, Rock said. The first is the flight was not only extremely popular, but due to the number of West 
Virginians living there, saw plenty of transplanted West Virginians coming home for visits.
Virginians living there, saw plenty of transplanted West Virginians coming home for visits.
Another key reason is the American Airlines connection. American has a heavy presence at the NCWV Airport with work being done on part of their fleet at MHI-RJ. Despite that presence, they do not have flight service.
“With American Airlines having work being done here it makes a lot of sense,” said Rock. “We’re going to take our components and see if we can’t utilize it to make something happen. If you don’t try, nothing is guaranteed to happen.”
Rock knows, much like the past, the odds are long. West Virginia’s population is small with seven commercial airports and when airlines look to add flights, the standard is to go with long-established proven markets with large population bases.
“We think the terminal will be to our advantage, and we’re going to take the momentum we have and try to capitalize on it,” said Rock.
Some of the incentives include marketing funds, cost waivers for a period of up to two years, and more. Rock did not mention using local dollars (as it was in the past to help add an additional daily flight to an EAS carrier) to subsidize a potential carrier.
“I’m biased, but I think we have the best potential to grow,” said Rock. “The numbers are there to accomplish that … We understand it’s a competitive market and we understand the airlines’ perspective. They have an airplane and they ask where the best place is to put that airplane for a return on the investment in that airplane. We want them to know we’re the place for that investment.”
More from this meeting in the days ahead.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows NCWV Airport Director Rick Rock, left, and Benedum Airport Authority member Kris Cinalli at Tuesday's meeting. Middle photo shows the two current air service providers at the NCWV Airport. In the bottom image, Authority members David Hinkle, left, and Ernie Vangilder listen during Monday's discussion.
