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Westmoreland County Airport Authority

Arnold Palmer Regional Airport

Proposal Under the

Small Community Air Service 

Development Program

Westmoreland Country Airport Authority

DUNS # 023452634

Congressional District #18
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Overview

It took about four months for Spirit Airlines to eclipse the 

Westmoreland County Airport Authority’s previous air carrier at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. In one 

third of the full year it took Northwest Airlines to enplane 13,000 passengers here, Spirit filled as many 

outbound seats to Fort Lauderdale, FL, and Myrtle Beach, SC. And there are no signs of slowing, with 

inbound figures holding nearly neck and neck, reinforcing the region’s drawing power as a destination.

At the time of this filing, outbound passenger figures exceeded 18,000 from Feb. 12 through Aug. 1, 

2011, with load factors averaging in the 80-90% ranges. Since the service started in the dead of winter, 

through this summer’s blazing heat, seats on these planes have been mostly full.

Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, located in Unity Township, near Latrobe, PA, had envisioned serving 

some 400,000 people in Westmoreland County and a smattering from several surrounding counties, 

including Fayette, Indiana, Somerset and eastern Allegheny, who find the commute to Pittsburgh 

International Airport, some 60 miles west of Arnold Palmer Regional, a transportation nightmare. But 

the reality has been an awakening, as passengers have poured in from other parts of the state, as well as 

Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia and even New York and Canada to line up for Spirit’s discounted air fares. 

Currently, the airport moves more than 1,000 passengers per week. 

And after 18 months with no service, it’s great to see Arnold Palmer Regional busy, once again. 

To say that the authority is overjoyed and optimistic is an understatement. 

But the WCAA has long been prudent and realistic. While the success of the new venture is certainly 

astounding, we know that the air service industry is fickle and precarious, and now is clearly not the 

time to kick back and rest on laurels. Now is the time to look ahead and take the next step to secure and 

grow this burgeoning service.

The airline has proposed additional destinations to its flight roster at APRA, which currently includes 

four fights per week each to Florida and South Carolina. Destinations being considered include Chicago 

(O’Hare), Ill., New York (LaGuardia), N.Y., Boston, Mass., and Orlando, Fla.

And thus we turn to the Small Community Air Service Development for assistance.
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Innovation

The authority is no stranger to the program. A SCASD grant was awarded to and proficiently used by the 

authority in 2004, to successfully negotiate service with Northwest Airlines, which lasted for four years.

But since that time, airline bankruptcies, mergers and a big recession changed the playing fields for 

many airports. 

We struggled, we faltered and we got back up, determined, until it finally paid off with a new air service 

partnership that has raised more than a few eyebrows in the industry and the communities we serve.

The initial success of the partnership between Spirit and the authority was built solely upon the airport

authority’s diligence and willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed, along with the airline’s business 

savvy and a mere $200,000 in marketing to brand the new service. 

With the results we have seen, we are confident that a reinvestment of that same size would secure the 

success of the new venture and double not only the enplanement figures that have elated this region’s 

economic development community, but also the range of service it would provide. Rather than two 

southern east coast destinations, access to the north and west would open dramatically.

The innovative approach undertaken in this partnership differs dramatically from typical airport/airline 

business models. Rather than charging the airline rents and fees to use the facilities the authority 

maintains, or in other cases, offering and paying revenue guarantees to the airline to protect its bottom 

line if it fails to fill its seats, the authority has taken an alternative approach. In order to provide the 

airline with a zero-cost operations environment, the authority created jobs and hired local personnel to 

service the flights, from the station manager and customer service representatives down to the ramp 

staff. The airline provides extensive training and support for authority staff and the benefits are mutual. 

The airline succeeds and we end up with a service that has so far rivaled any that this airport has seen in 

more than 30 years of providing air service to the communities it serves.

Existing Air Service at LBE

 In terms of scheduled service, Arnold Palmer Regional Airport (LBE) is presently served solely by Spirit 

Airlines, which offers four direct flights per week to Fort Lauderdale, FL, and four flights per week to 

Myrtle Beach, SC. The airline uses 145-seat Airbus 319 aircraft.

Periodic public charters also carry passengers to several popular casino destinations. Equipment used on 

these charter flights includes Boeing 737s and McDonnell-Douglas MD 80s.
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Historical Air Service at LBE

Commercial flights began at the Westmoreland County Airport (the airport’s name at the time) in the 

1980s with Mesa Airlines, flying under the US Airways banner, running as many as eight flights per day 

to connections out of Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). At that time, US Airways was the dominant 

airline in the region, and the Mesa service carried some 25,000 departing passengers a year out of LBE

during its heyday using 19-seat twin turbo-prop aircraft.

That service halted in 2004 in the buildup to US Airways’ strategic decline in the western Pennsylvania 

region. While the airline never satisfactorily specified reasons for grounding the service, it occurred amid 

its struggle with two separate bankruptcy filings. And, not long afterward, the airline significantly 

slashed flights and shrunk its presence at PIT, citing an influx of low-cost airline competitors. In the wake 

of losing its former hub status, PIT is still seeking ways to recover from the dramatic declines inflicted by 

the airline.

Since that time, the authority has worked tirelessly to rebuild air service at Arnold Palmer Regional. Its 

first success in that endeavor was to land a $600,000 grant under the 2004 SCASD program that was key 

in attracting and negotiating a one-year deal with Northwest Airlines to operate daily scheduled flights 

through Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) in Michigan. (NOTE: That grant differed significantly from 

this proposal in that it was a revenue guarantee to establish service, while the current project is 

marketing assistance to expand existing service).

The route, flown by Mesaba Airlines, started in April, 2005. A year later, Northwest agreed to sustain the 

service at its own risk. The federal grant gave our communities the opportunity to prove to an airline 

that they were able to support sustained service without the need for additional safety nets. The airport 

proved that it could be a viable, profitable market, and the airline stayed for three more years without 

the revenue guarantees it claimed after its maiden year at Latrobe. However, after Northwest Airlines 

filed for bankruptcy and subsequently merged with Delta Airlines – and the nation slipped into a global 

recession – Delta service out of Latrobe ended on July 31, 2009.

Air Service Development Efforts

Recovery did not happen overnight, but the authority kept plugging, talking to just about any airline that 

would listen. Finally, in mid-2010, Spirit Airlines expressed an interest in starting service and 

negotiations commenced. The service was announced in November, 2010, and Spirit launched its 

maiden flight from LBE to Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 12, 2011 (see photo below). The first Myrtle Beach flight 

took off on May 6, 2011. 
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With the rebirth of air service that Spirit has delivered to our region, airport management has developed 

a new way of working with air-service providers. While it took every penny of the $600,000 that the 

SCASD program provided in 2004 to bring Northwest Airlines to the table to produce tepid results, that 

airline was certainly not alone in seeking revenue guarantees or other government subsidies, such as 

Essential Air Service contracts. Many of the airlines the authority approached had their eyes on federal 

dollars to sustain their businesses.

Spirit sought no such concessions. All that the airline asked was that we create a zero-cost operating 

environment and kick in a modicum of marketing money. And it wasn’t a big stretch for the authority. 

We made only the same standing offer that we have extended to numerous other air carriers – to waive 

all landing, ramp and terminal fees for a negotiated period if they will only provide reliable service. 

Sadly, most still wanted some sort of government subsidy, and went elsewhere when it was not 

forthcoming here. Truthfully, we didn’t think there was an airline left out there that was willing to make 

its money the old-fashioned way – by filling seats and flying airplanes, not getting paid millions of dollars 

to fly empty seats on underused routes. But persistence paid off, and Spirit decided that it was time to 

tap this region’s potential – a decision it has yet to regret. Airline officials have informed us that they are 

well pleased with the airport’s performance thus far.

We couldn’t be happier, either, and we believe that a large part of that success is attributable to the 

airline’s ability to market its own product, largely through internet-based means that it has the ability to 

manage properly. This arrangement works better. Rather than trying to turn a small airport into a 

national advertising agency, trying to sell something it can’t control, Spirit markets its own product with 

personnel that are better trained and qualified to do so. And instead of shaking our heads and 

grumbling when an airline’s customer service fails to meet the standards we expect in our terminal, we 

took that aspect of the operation into our own hands, giving the authority total quality control.

While the airport continues to provide important services to general aviation and business aircraft 

operators, the authority firmly believes that valuable connections to national and global transportation 

networks are what truly open airports to the communities they serve. We have invested deeply in this 

belief, and that investment paid dividends in new jobs, exhilarating economic potential and 

enplanement statistics such as this airport has never seen.

Air Service Needs/Deficiencies

With the service Spirit provides, the only need or deficiency that we can currently identify is funding to 

provide marketing to expand the service to new destinations.
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While the public has embraced the current offerings, they are obviously limited. Opening new 

destinations will provide material benefits to a broader segment of the traveling public, including 

business, educational institutions and other enterprises, for which access to the national air 

transportation systems is somewhat limited by the current primarily leisure/recreational destinations 

offered at Arnold Palmer Regional.

The airport has an 8,224-foot-long runway and other well-maintained airfield facilities critical to air 

carrier operations, including an air traffic control tower, full ILS, passenger loading bridge and an 

efficient and comfortable terminal filled with attractive passenger amenities. The authority has also 

added customer service personnel to assist passengers in boarding and ramp personnel to service 

arriving and departing aircraft. Transportation Safety Administration screening agents and equipment 

are present for each flight, fuel is provided by an FBO on the field and maintenance services are 

available. 

Marketing for expanded routes remains the sole unmet need at present.

With the track record of success that the first two destinations have established, the authority and the 

airline are confident that $200,000 should be sufficient to brand additional markets.

Strategic Plan for Meeting Air Service Needs – Spirit Airlines

The Airport Authority has negotiated a two-year agreement with Spirit Airlines. Less than six months 

into that term, performance has exceeded all expectation of the authority and the airline. At full 

capacity, Spirit is expected to produce more than 30,000 passenger enplanements annually at LBE –

more than double the annual number of passengers posted by Northwest Airlines and the airport’s 

charter flights combined in previous years. The airline has achieved these results with primarily internetbased marketing vehicles and plans to continue using these proven methods to expand its service out of 

ARPA.

Marketing spending would begin immediately upon announcement of the service; reimbursement 

would then be sought from the grant.

Goals and objectives for this project are clear cut – to help ensure the success of expanded service at 

Arnold Palmer Regional Airport and to broaden the public awareness of any other potential air service 

offerings that may become available.

Public-Private Partnerships

Air service at Arnold Palmer Regional is the epitome of a public-private partnership.

The Westmoreland County Airport Authority is subsidized by annual operations allocations from the 

county general fund. The county commissioners also support airport with funding for special projects on 

a case-by-case basis, and air service projects receive a high priority from the commissioners. The state 

Department of Transportation Bureau of Aviation has also been a staunch supporter of air service 

projects at Arnold Palmer Regional, offering matching funds for such needs as infrastructure 

improvements to help initiate and sustain new air service initiatives.

Private entities partner in these efforts in several ways. First are the local business communities, such as 

area chambers of commerce and larger industries individually who participate in air service needs 
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surveys and generate support commitments that help the airport attract interest from air carriers. Local 

philanthropic foundations have also been generous in support for airport projects. 

Finally, the air carriers themselves become partners with the airport to establish and maintain the 

service through various agreements. Air service operations at Arnold Palmer Regional are different than 

for many airports. This airport actually partners with the airline by waiving all charges, such as landing 

and ramp fees, terminal rent and other services that typically generate revenue at other airports. Arnold 

Palmer Regional provides all of its facilities – baggage system, deicing equipment, passenger loading 

bridge, and others, including ample free parking – at no cost to the airline for a negotiated period in the 

interest of making the service profitable and self-sustaining. In exchange, the airline provides the service 

that the airport strives to provide for the communities it serves. It would be nice to derive revenue from 

air service. But the development of self-sustaining service for the communities is more important to the 

authority at present.

Funding Needed -$200,000

The authority is seeking $200,000 in SCASD marketing funding to match the $200,000 in local 

operational funding that the authority will provide to staff Spirit Airlines operations at Arnold Palmer 

Regional Airport. The airport has also committed more than $200,000 in In-Kind contributions derived 

from waivers of standard facility fees and costs, including ramp and landing fees, terminal rents and 

costs for use of baggage system, deicing equipment and the passenger loading bridge.

To put this into clearer perspective, it should be noted that the airport has also contributed $400,000 to cover 

marketing, personnel and operating costs for the airline’s first year at APRA. However, those costs are admittedly 

related to, but not part of, the program proposed here to expand this service.

Also integral to this service, but not a part of the expansion plans for which SCASD funding is being requested, was 

a $250,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation Bureau of Aviation to purchase equipment and 

make airport renovations needed to launch and sustain the new service. The authority also covered 25% of those 

costs. Both of these expenditures are noted purely to demonstrate the authority’s commitment to providing and 

maintaining this valuable and successful service, which has produced usage figures beyond all expectations.

As for the program proposed for SCASD funding, the breakdown is as follows:

Grant Program Funding Plan

Source

SCASD GrantMarketing $ 200,000 

Local Match-

(payroll/operations) $ 200,000

In-Kind Airport Contributions $ 213,420 

Totals $ 613,420

There are no revenue guarantees asked or offered for the Spirit service. The funding requested for this

effort is purely for marketing the expanded service, augmenting the $200,000 local share contribution 

that the authority has pledged to provide and the in-kind contributions detailed below.
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As you can see, the authority has invested significantly in this service, and is asking the SCASD program 

to bolster that investment to prove that good air service can dramatically impact small communities.

Community Monitoring

Airport administration closely monitors inbound passenger and enplanement figures and reports those 

figures to the authority and the community regularly.

Sustaining/Maintaining Air Service

The authority and all of its partners in these efforts will take any steps necessary and possible to assure 

that the service initiatives described in this application continue and maintain a self-sustainable 

presence of true benefit to the communities the airport serves.

Legal Sponsor – Westmoreland County Airport Authority

Summary

The Westmoreland County Airport Authority is seeking funding through the SCASD program to expand 

an existing service that is on track to significantly surpass any air service operation that has ever been 

partnered with this airport. 

Despite its drawbacks and lackluster performance, Northwest AirLink service was attracted, negotiated 

and established at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport with assistance from a 2004 SCASD grant. The airport 

was able to keep that service flying for three subsequent years after the initial one-year revenue 

guarantee period expired. It is also mutually agreed that the service would still have been viable were it 

not for the events and situations described earlier in this application. But circumstances were what they 

were, and this authority picked itself up, dusted off and kept faith that air service was a viable and 

valued asset for this region and worked hard to bring a successful enterprise to Arnold Palmer Regional’s 

apron.

Now, with this request, we are not looking for a free ride to establish a risky new carrier. Rather, all we 

are seeking is some assistance to expand the benefits of one that has proven its viability and worthiness 

on a level beyond any that has operated here – and perhaps to bolster the economic potentials of our

communities as it grows.

Local and In-Kind Contributions Breakdown

Local Match (operations) - $ 200,000

In-Kind Contribution - $ 213,420

 Free Parking

Terminal Rent - $ 5,000 (at $9.50 per square foot) waived

Baggage System - $ 20,800 (at $50 per use) waived

Passenger Loading Bridge - $ 20,800 (at $50 per use) waived

 Deicing Equipment - $ 2,500 (at $50 per use) waived

 Landing Fees - $ 164,320 (at $395 per landing) waived