The last commercial airline with service to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport has announced that it will not serve our airport, meaning we now rely exclusively on smaller aircraft to serve our community.
Airports like ours are under siege by the big airline companies lobbying Congress to pass a bill to privatize our air traffic control system. If passed, air traffic control would be placed under a board of private stakeholders. Under this system, the airlines would be able to direct expenditures toward their biggest hubs; they would also be able to control taxes and fees that consumers pay, and prohibit lower cost competitors from the system – with grave repercussions for smaller cities and airports.
We see firsthand how our local airport is tied in with military and national disaster preparedness, all under the umbrella of the federal government. And this is the way that it should be.
American infrastructure investment is a national priority we can all get behind, but privatizing air traffic control will take us in the wrong direction, hurting Youngstown and cities just like ours across the country.
http://www.cleveland.com/letters/index.ssf/2017/10/ohioans_know_well_how_flight_i.html