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<p>PITTSTON TWP. &#8212; U.S. Senator Bob Casey took a personal look at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Monday to better understand how federal dollars are being spent here.</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s very important for people to be able to see things first hand. It&#8217;s one thing to get a picture of it, it&#8217;s another thing to get an aerial picture of it, but nothing beats going out there, seeing first hand &#8212; touching, feeling and having it right there in front of you,&#8221; said Casey, D-Scranton. &#8220;And it was really helpful to have the whole perspective of what has changed, what the progress is, and what has yet to be done.&#8221;</p><p>Carl Beardsley, airport executive director, said airport business is growing &#8212; with a 13 percent increase in passenger boardings in the last year, and an increase in the number of flights as well.</p><p>&#8220;But this, of course, means challenges, and that means that we need to look at ways that we are properly offering services to our customers, that we&#8217;re staying ahead of the game when it comes to technology,&#8221; Beardsley said. &#8220;And also, we need to make sure that we are planning.&#8221;</p><p>Beardsley said airport officials are &#8220;looking at ways to be more operationally efficient&#8221; as the growth continues, and how to build the capacity of the airport &#8212; or the infrastructure &#8212; &#8220;so that we can handle more and more activity.&#8221;</p><p>Beardsley noted the federal government provides funding for improvements such as taxiway or runway projects.</p><p>That includes a recent $12 million project to extend a taxiway 1,000 feet &#8212; with the assistance of a $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.</p><p>Casey&#8217;s office noted in a news release that since 2008, the senator has helped secure $34.015 million for airport projects.</p><p>In 2009, he supported a stimulus bill that provided $19.8 million to construct the new 118-foot air traffic control tower, create about 140 construction jobs and keep 39 federal employees at the airport.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Carl Beardsley, left, executive director of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, guides U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on a tour of the airport on Monday. (Fox 56 News)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Still0814_00002.jpg</photo0><caption0>Carl Beardsley, left, executive director of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, guides U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on a tour of the airport on Monday. (Fox 56 News)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Still0814_00000.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Carl Beardsley, executive director of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, is seen Monday after giving a tour to U.S. Senator Bob Casey, D-Scranton. (Fox 56 News)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Still0814_00000.jpg</photo1><caption1>Carl Beardsley, executive director of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, is seen Monday after giving a tour to U.S. Senator Bob Casey, D-Scranton. (Fox 56 News)</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Still0814_00001.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, speaks to the media Monday after a tour of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. (Fox 56 News)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_Still0814_00001.jpg</photo2><caption2>U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, speaks to the media Monday after a tour of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. (Fox 56 News)</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Fox 56 News</p></bylineMeta></div>

Senator Casey gets tour of WBS Airport