When it comes to the record year of passengers flying out of the North Central West Virginia Airport in Bridgeport, there are plenty of factors that figured into the mix. And perhaps the most overlooked may be the ongoing resurgence of charter flights.

 

For the fourth straight year, charter flights grew at the airport. In fact, NCWV Airport Director Rick Rock believes it may very well be a record year.

 

“Going back more than a decade we know this past year’s numbers for charters were the highest we’ve had,” said Rock. “What’s impressive is that the numbers have been strong the last several years and they just keep creeping higher.”

 

This year, the NCWV Airport had 4,150 passengers use the facility for charter purposes. That number is up from 4,065 last year nearly four times the total in 2006 when the airport had 1,641 charter passengers. The 4,150 helped the airport produce nearly 40,000 passengers (38,296) this past year.

 

“Some of the numbers in those charters are industry related, such as oil and gas, but the biggest contributor is travel related to West Virginia University athletics and the Big 12 Conference,” said Rock.

 

The Mountaineers utilize the airport for the majority of their sporting events. The numbers inflate, however, due to the opposition of WVU also flying in and out of Bridgeport. While Rock said the airport and the staff there treat all sports teams with the same attention, he said the big numbers come when football teams and their staffs arrived.

 

“This past year we had 100 percent of the Big 12 teams fly into Bridgeport,” said Rock. “That’s a very important thing for us. Even better, it carried right over into basketball and other sports as well.”

 

The Big 12 teams initially were utilizing Pittsburgh International Airport. However, thanks to a strong sales pitch from locals to the athletic departments of each school that changed. And it’s stayed the same since they started flying here.

 

“I think it comes down to people want to go where they feel like they’re being served the best. It’s a service that they’re paying for and you want to give those people what they want. I know our guys are professional and we give them what they’re asking for,” said Rock. “Those teams want to land, get unloaded and be on the road and we accommodate that. They do not want to spend a lot of time at the airport.

 

“Our goal is to earn and maintain the business and we’ve done that because these teams could still go to Pittsburgh,” Rock continued. “Our guys have performed admirably and we plan on continuing to treat these teams and our own WVU teams first class.”

 

Rock said the men’s and women’s basketball teams, the baseball team, soccer and various other teams utilize Bridgeport. He said any program will be treated professionally.

 

“We have face to face time with the WVU teams and the visiting teams. Travel coordinators in football often come in advance and we meet them speak with them,” said Rock. “They see the same people when they come here because we have a low turnover rate and I think that makes them comfortable to come back every two years in football.

 

“We don’t take this for granted,” he continued. “We want to hear when they leave that we’ve met their needs and that’s what we’re hearing.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the University of Kansas' men's basketball team getting off of their charter flight before playing in Morgantown, while the second photo shows a member of WVU's women's basketball team getting off a team bus to head out on a charter flight. Below, NCWV Airport Deputy Director Shawn Long talks to an official with Kansas' basketball program.