W-b Area Schools 
Incident Tally Gives Look At District

Ann Johns

By JERRY LYNOTT jlynott@leader.net
 Saturday, February 22, 2003 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1C 





PITTSTON TWP. - Need to know whether a flight to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
International Airport is canceled or on time? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Check the Philadelphia or Pittsburgh airports' Web sites. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While Monday's snowstorm grounded flights in the Northeast,
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Web site, www.flyavp.com, listed no delays or
cancellations for the 40 scheduled flights, despite few planes taking off or
landing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The larger airports provided up-to-date flight information - including
information on flights to and from Wilkes-Barre on their Web sites. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The information is provided by the airlines and the same information is
available to travelers on the monitors throughout Philadelphia International
and Pittsburgh International airports. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``We don't have that system here,'' said Eric McKitish, administrative
assistant at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Airport Director Barry Centini and Wy Gowell, assistant director, were out
of town Friday and unavailable for comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The flight information on the Web site comes from the airport's
administrative office, McKitish said. On Monday the office was closed because
of Presidents Day. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``The best thing to do is contact the airline,'' McKitish said about flight
information. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He added the airport might consider including on-time or cancellation
updates on the Web site. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Philadelphia International Airport's Web site, www.phl.org, lists the
schedules for the 1,250 daily flights, said Mark Pesce, airport spokesman. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``We get those directly from the airlines,'' Pesce said. Schedule changes
are updated as soon as possible to provide real time information for travelers
in the airport and on the Web. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Normally the airport's site gets 250,000 hits or visits a day, said Pesce.
As the storm began Sunday night and until the airport resumed flights on
Tuesday, the site had 3.5 million hits, with 1.7 million on Monday alone, he
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In addition to flight information, visitors to the Pittsburgh International
Airport's Web site, www.pitairport.com, can check the waiting time in the
security line plus whether the three parking lots are full. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The airport launched its Web site with updated flight information last year
just before the start of the busy summer travel season, said JoAnn Jenny,
airport spokeswoman. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The airport provides the flight information as a public service, Jenny
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But because the airlines supply information on the more than 600 daily
flights, the airport directs questions about flights to the airlines. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Although much smaller than Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the Lehigh Valley
International Airport also lists the status of the more than 100 daily flights
on its Web site, www.lvia.org. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7237. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
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Airport Lacking Flight Info On Web Site