- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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The Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport now offers all jet service. County and airport officials hosted a celebration Monday to commemorate the news. The United Airlines E145 jet landed Monday Morning, then took off again for Newark after taking on more Ithaca passengers.
"Our airport is critical to our local economy," said Air Services Board Chairman Michael Stamm. "There isn't a connection to an interstate. We have rail service, but that's generally used for coal and salt, not passengers. So our airport is the portal to our international economy that we sell our goods and services to. This new air service is critical to our economy, and we're working hard to do everything we can to make sure that it meets the needs of our customers that are typically people that are traveling internationally to sell their goods and services."
The 50-seat jets replace 37-seat turboprop Dash 8 aircraft that the airlines previously used to ferry passengers to and from Ithaca. With Delta and American Airlines also servicing Ithaca with jets, turboprop commercial flights are now a thing of the past for Ithaca.
"It's an exciting day for United Airlines," said United Airline representative Bare Dantaols. "The Dash 8 was a great airplane in its day, but the customers wanted regional jets. That's what we were able to introduce here. We've been trying to do this across upstate New York. As you'll see in the next couple of months we'll be phasing out the Dash 8s and our regional jets will take over from all the cities in upstate New York."
A ribbon cutting was part of the celebration Monday as the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport began offering all-jet service from the airlines -- Delta, United, and American -- that service the facility. Left to right: Mike Hall, Airport Director; Ewan Barr, Lansing resident, Air Service Consultant; Anna Kelles, County Legislator; Michael Stamm, President Tompkins County Area Development; Kevin Keado, Senior Regional Manager, United Airlines; J.W. Jones, VP Field Stations, Delta Global Services, and contract ground handling for United; Tom Harris, General Manager, Delta Global Services; Dr. Tony Cal, Station Manager, Delta Global ServicesUnited Airlines began servicing Ithaca with Embraer 145 jet aircraft (ERJ 145) in early October to serve increased passenger demand. The airport has an estimated $70 million economic impact on Tompkins County, and supports 510 jobs here. Airport Manager Michael Hall says with competitive fares the airport offers, over 700 one-stop destinations, and direct flights to Philadelphia, Newark, and Detroit, you can easily and economically reach your final destination by flying from Ithaca.
"It is the beginning of a great new era of cooperation with United Airlines," Hall said.
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