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Commonwealth Court makes historic stop in Luzerne County

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Revival of environmental contamination suit involving former Kerr-McGee Corp. blocked

<p>PITTSTON TWP. &#8212; Despite the area&#8217;s worst snow storm on record, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport had its best March in history &#8212; ridership is up and more good news could be coming soon.</p><p>Carl Beardsley Jr., airport director, reported that 21,054 passengers boarded planes at the airport &#8212; the highest number ever recorded since the airport began keeping such records in 1947.</p><p>&#8220;The airport really shined in March,&#8221; Beardsley told the airport board. &#8220;That number represents a 13.8 percent increase over March 2016, when there were 18,499 enplanements.&#8221;</p><p>Beardsley attributed the increase to American Airline&#8217;s daily service to Charlotte, North Carolina. He said when compared to March 2015, ridership is up even higher &#8212; by 17 percent &#8212; and he credits American&#8217;s increase of daily service to Charlotte and Allegiant&#8217;s twice weekly service to Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida.</p><p>Beardsley said had the snow storm not shut down travel &#8212; all flights were cancelled on March 14 and only 30 percent were able to get out on March 15 &#8212; the numbers would be even higher.</p><p>Beardsley also announced that Delta Airlines will make an additional flight &#8212; five times per week &#8212; to Detroit out of the airport. That could get the ridership numbers to rise even more, he said.</p><p>Beardsley said the airport is also targeting other destinations and an announcement could be coming soon.</p><p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t make anything public until we have firm agreements with the airlines,&#8221; he said.</p><p>In his performance report, Beardsley noted that American flights were up 27.6 percent; Delta was up 12.8 percent; and Allegiant increased by 1 percent. United Airlines numbers were down by 8.1 percent, he said. Charter flights also increased by 5.9 percent.</p><p>&#8220;We are really very proud of these numbers,&#8221; Beardsley said after the meeting. &#8220;They reflect the hard work of our entire team here at the airport.&#8221;</p><p>Beardsley said the airport has seen an influx of passengers from outside Luzerne and Lackawanna counties,</p><p>&#8220;And it&#8217;s been a solid mix of leisure and business travelers,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Tim McGinley, chairman of the airport board and a member of Luzerne County Council, said Beardsley report was welcome news.</p><p>&#8220;This shows that more and more people are using our airport and the services we provide,&#8221; McGinley said. &#8220;It&#8217;s great to see how ridership keeps building.&#8221;</p><p>In other business:</p><p>&#8226; The airport board approved its 2017 budget totalling $6.1 million, an increase over 2016&#8217;s budget of $5.8 million. Luzerne County Council representative Rick Williams voted against the budget, saying it was a protest vote. Williams wants to see the airport stand on its own financially without requiring contributing funds from the two member counties.</p><p>&#8226; Reviewed the plans for the NEPA Airshow 2017, set for Aug. 12 and 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.</p><p>&#8226; Heard updates on all capital improvement projects &#8212; extension of Hangar Road, demolition of the old terminal building, parking garage maintenance, relocation of the TSA checkpoint, and rehabilitation and extension of taxiways.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Beardsley </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Beardsley.jpg</photo0><caption0>Beardsley </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ridership record in March at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport