SVRA Sees Success Under SkyWest
June 12, 2018
Nonstop Flights To Chicago This Fall
By VIC BRADSHAW
Daily News-Record 6/12/18
WEYERS CAVE — The public’s embrace of the new commercial carrier serving Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport continued in May, as more people flew into or out of the airport last month than had used it in nearly four years. And the new one-stop service to Chicago O’Hare International Airport has been so successful that the carrier is switching it to a nonstop flight this fall.
SkyWest Airlines, a St. George, Utah, regional carrier flying under the United Express banner, flew about 2,100 passengers to and from the Weyers Cave airport in May, according to data provided by Greg Campbell, SVRA’s executive director.
That represented a 50 percent increase over the 1,400 people who used the service in April and a 600 percent leap from the 302 passengers who flew SVRA in March, the last month Orlando, Fla.-based ViaAir provided service.
SkyWest’s two-month total of 3,500 passengers carried to or from Shenandoah Valley is more than the3,102 people Via served in the market in its last seven months of operation before it was dumped due to reliability issues. Via, Campbell said, carried only about 900 people in its best month, March 2017.
“I think we’re going to see numbers in the 2,500 to 3,000 range by the end of the summer,” he said of monthly commercial passenger use of the airport. “There have been no controllable cancellations by SkyWest, not a single one. The only irregularities they’ve had are for weather, and they can’t control that.”
The last time SVRA had a 2,100-passenger month, Campbell said, was the summer of 2014. That was before Fort Lauderdale, Fla., regional carrier Silver Airways started struggling with operational issues that led to flight delays and cancellations.
SkyWest began operations at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport on April 3 following Via’s ill-fated 17 months in the market. It has a two-year contract to serve the market under the Essential Air Service program and will receive a federal subsidy of up to $2.9 million a year to do so.
The service offers 19 flights a week in 50-seat regional jets — two a day to and from Washington Dulles International Airport each weekday, one Dulles flight a day Saturday and Sunday, as well as one flight a day to and from Chicago daily.
Nonstop To Chicago
It’s the first time the airport has had service to Chicago, and the flights have proven popular even though most have a brief stop in Lewisburg, W.Va.
Starting Oct. 4, though, Campbell said the Lewisburg stop will be canceled, and Chicago will become a nonstop flight.
“We thought it would be a year,” he said, “before we saw that kind of change.”
Campbell said the elimination of the Lewisburg stop will reduce travel time and improve connectivity with some flights from Chicago, including some international flights. Flights into SVRA will arrive earlier.
“Once this is done,” he said, “in some cases you’ll be able to leave here at 2 [p.m. Eastern time
zone] and be on the West Coast by 6 to 6:30 [p.m. Pacific time zone]. And you’ll be able to leave midmorning from the West Coast and still get here by 7 p.m. [Eastern time].” The increased use, though, has caused problems for a few travelers. They no longer can arrive 10 to 15 minutes before a flight and get through the check-in process before departure.
“Since we’re experiencing some flights that are full or nearly full, passengers need to clear the security checkpoint and be at the gate in time for boarding,” Campbell said. “They’re processing 40 to 50 people at times, and you can’t get that many people through but so fast. “Travelers checking luggage, he advised, should arrive at least an hour before their flights. Those not checking luggage should allow 45 minutes.
The airline won’t wait for those arriving late because it doesn’t want passengers to miss their connecting flights.
Campbell was in Cleveland last week for a conference, and he said he was at the terminal 50 minutes before his flight to Dulles, instead of the 20 to 30 minutes he had been accustomed to. “The days of being able to arrive 20 minutes before departure,” he said, “they are no more.” The loss of Via’s service did mean the end of less than- daily one-stop service to the Orlando area. Campbell said airport officials continue to court carriers to provide service to the popular tourist destination, and the passenger loads Via carried proved that demand for SVRA-Orlando service exists.
Passengers disembark a United Express flight operated by SkyWest Airlines at the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport last month. More people flew into or out of the airport in May than had used it in nearly four years.
By VIC BRADSHAW
Daily News-Record 6/12/18
WEYERS CAVE — The public’s embrace of the new commercial carrier serving Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport continued in May, as more people flew into or out of the airport last month than had used it in nearly four years. And the new one-stop service to Chicago O’Hare International Airport has been so successful that the carrier is switching it to a nonstop flight this fall.
SkyWest Airlines, a St. George, Utah, regional carrier flying under the United Express banner, flew about 2,100 passengers to and from the Weyers Cave airport in May, according to data provided by Greg Campbell, SVRA’s executive director.
That represented a 50 percent increase over the 1,400 people who used the service in April and a 600 percent leap from the 302 passengers who flew SVRA in March, the last month Orlando, Fla.-based ViaAir provided service.
SkyWest’s two-month total of 3,500 passengers carried to or from Shenandoah Valley is more than the3,102 people Via served in the market in its last seven months of operation before it was dumped due to reliability issues. Via, Campbell said, carried only about 900 people in its best month, March 2017.
“I think we’re going to see numbers in the 2,500 to 3,000 range by the end of the summer,” he said of monthly commercial passenger use of the airport. “There have been no controllable cancellations by SkyWest, not a single one. The only irregularities they’ve had are for weather, and they can’t control that.”
The last time SVRA had a 2,100-passenger month, Campbell said, was the summer of 2014. That was before Fort Lauderdale, Fla., regional carrier Silver Airways started struggling with operational issues that led to flight delays and cancellations.
SkyWest began operations at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport on April 3 following Via’s ill-fated 17 months in the market. It has a two-year contract to serve the market under the Essential Air Service program and will receive a federal subsidy of up to $2.9 million a year to do so.
The service offers 19 flights a week in 50-seat regional jets — two a day to and from Washington Dulles International Airport each weekday, one Dulles flight a day Saturday and Sunday, as well as one flight a day to and from Chicago daily.
Nonstop To Chicago
It’s the first time the airport has had service to Chicago, and the flights have proven popular even though most have a brief stop in Lewisburg, W.Va.
Starting Oct. 4, though, Campbell said the Lewisburg stop will be canceled, and Chicago will become a nonstop flight.
“We thought it would be a year,” he said, “before we saw that kind of change.”
Campbell said the elimination of the Lewisburg stop will reduce travel time and improve connectivity with some flights from Chicago, including some international flights. Flights into SVRA will arrive earlier.
“Once this is done,” he said, “in some cases you’ll be able to leave here at 2 [p.m. Eastern time
zone] and be on the West Coast by 6 to 6:30 [p.m. Pacific time zone]. And you’ll be able to leave midmorning from the West Coast and still get here by 7 p.m. [Eastern time].” The increased use, though, has caused problems for a few travelers. They no longer can arrive 10 to 15 minutes before a flight and get through the check-in process before departure.
“Since we’re experiencing some flights that are full or nearly full, passengers need to clear the security checkpoint and be at the gate in time for boarding,” Campbell said. “They’re processing 40 to 50 people at times, and you can’t get that many people through but so fast. “Travelers checking luggage, he advised, should arrive at least an hour before their flights. Those not checking luggage should allow 45 minutes.
The airline won’t wait for those arriving late because it doesn’t want passengers to miss their connecting flights.
Campbell was in Cleveland last week for a conference, and he said he was at the terminal 50 minutes before his flight to Dulles, instead of the 20 to 30 minutes he had been accustomed to. “The days of being able to arrive 20 minutes before departure,” he said, “they are no more.” The loss of Via’s service did mean the end of less than- daily one-stop service to the Orlando area. Campbell said airport officials continue to court carriers to provide service to the popular tourist destination, and the passenger loads Via carried proved that demand for SVRA-Orlando service exists.
Passengers disembark a United Express flight operated by SkyWest Airlines at the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport last month. More people flew into or out of the airport in May than had used it in nearly four years.
