MORGANTOWNn — The Morgantown Municipal Airport will receive $69,000 out of $9,398,776 in emergency funding for West Virginia’s airports from the Federal Aviation Administration.
That amount, Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel explained, will cover just over a month’s worth of payroll for the city-owned airport, which is facing a 90% drop in operations and revenue due to COVID-19.
“If we stay on exactly the path we’re on today, it’ll be very tight,” Vrabel said when asked how long the airport could survive in this climate. “There will be hard decisions that will have to be made to make sure we can keep the airport going.”
By comparison, four of the state’s airports will receive more than $1 million, with Yeager Airport receiving $4,810,956 — more than doubling the next highest total of $1,727,300 going to the Tri-State Airport.
The emergency funding was announced Wednesday by U.S. Senators Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito R-W.Va. It is part of the Coronavirus Air, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which was signed by President Trump on March 27.
Vrabel said the airport is operating under a spending freeze, only purchasing essential items.
He went on to say that he’s confident that if the businesses located in the airport can reopen in the near future, things will rebound.
“Right now, they’re all closed down. The restaurants are doing some takeout, but business is minimal,” Vrabel said. “Even Hertz is closed at the moment. They had an employee they though may have been in contact with COVID-19. I believe they reopen next week.”
Morgantown’s air carrier, Southern Airways, is awaiting approval to reduce its weekly flight schedule by half, to three flights daily — two to Pittsburgh and one to Baltimore.
Morgantown is far from alone when it comes to the impacts of COVID-19 on air travel.
In the press release issued Tuesday, Capito said less than 100,000 people across the country traveled by air last weekend.
“Though the economic impact of this pandemic has been broad, perhaps no segment has been hit as hard as our air transportation system,” she said. “This has had ramifications across the industry, including our regional airports. Investing in our regional airports not only keeps our passengers and personnel safe, but it also fuels growth and boosts our economy.”
