Nonstop flights to and from Johnstown-Cambria County Airport to resume beginning Thursday

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WJAC) — The Johnstown-Cambria County Airport Authority said Wednesday that their flight patterns with SkyWest Airlines will return to their status quo Thursday, after months of limbo with their carrier due to an industry-wide pilot shortage.

In a statement, the airport board said that the United Express-branded flights from the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport to Chicago O’Hare International Airport will return to being nonstop direct flights on Thursday. Since April, the flights added a stop in Clarksburg, W. Va., amid SkyWest weighing options on how to handle its Essential Air Service contracts.

SkyWest signed a contract that began in December 2020 to provide services to Johnstown through the federal subsidy program for United Airlines flights to Washington Dulles International Airport and Chicago O'Hare through 2023.

But SkyWest told regional airports across the U.S. in March that they were seeking to terminate their Essential Air Service contracts due to a lack of pilots. In the weeks that followed, SkyWest worked with the airport authority to find a solution to keep their service in Johnstown, which included the Clarksburg connection.

Johnstown to Washington Dulles flights had been largely unaffected. Clarksburg has secured a different contract to serve their airport.

“We are excited that SkyWest Airlines is eliminating the stop in Clarksburg and is returning to providing nonstop roundtrip jet service to both Washington Dulles and Chicago O’Hare," said airport manager Cory Cree in a statement. “We appreciate the support shown to the Airport by the traveling public, specifically our local passengers, SkyWest Airlines, and our public officials, including PA Senator Langerholc, PA Representatives Burns and Rigby, and Cambria County Commissioners Chernisky, Smith, and Hunt.”

Passenger volumes, which in 2021 reached their highest levels since 2007, dropped significantly after it first appeared Johnstown could potentially lose jet service again.

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