Spirit Airlines and its future at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
LATROBE, Pa. (KDKA) — The proposed budget for the expanded terminal at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Westmoreland County is $22 million.
But the question is, will Spirit Airlines be calling the new facility home?
Since 2011, Spirit Airlines has been flying in and out of Latrobe, with destinations at one point as far west as Las Vegas and as far south as Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Now, Spirit operates just one daily direct to Orlando, Fla., and one seasonal flight to Myrtle Beach, Fla. But despite having fewer flights, the working relationship between the airline and the community is a good one.
"It's nice because we own the equipment, we own the bridge, these are our employees," says Gabe Monzo, the executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority. "It's a great operation and all they have to do is fly the airplane."
Roughly 117,000 people a year fly in and out of Latrobe right now; that's just with Spirit's daily Orlando flight, and those people equal dollars for hotels, restaurants and tourism.
Anthony M DeNunzio II, the manager of DeNunzio's Latrobe restaurant, which operates out of the airport, says that the airline brings in good business for his eatery.
"When flights are here at the Latrobe location, it's fantastic," he says. "We are very thankful to have flights here. Spirit Airlines has been so good to everybody, not only here at the airport but also in Westmoreland County. Most recently now, we are down to one flight a day, which is nice, we definitely love to have the flights here and one is great. But obviously, we would love to have more. It benefits our customers, our employees and most importantly, I think it benefits everybody across Westmoreland County."
While the airport is set to break ground on a massive terminal expansion project that will see larger ticketing, security and gate areas created, Spirit is in the middle of a merger with JetBlue. And now, while that merger is awaiting final legal approval, everything is up in the air in terms of continuing airline services in and out of Latrobe.
Joycelyn Conrad is the director of sales and marketing for the SpringHill Suites just across from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. She says the hotel sees a lot of business from the airport and while she is excited for the expanding terminal, she is worried about Spirit potentially leaving.
"There's definitely a concern," said Conrad. "We are eager to hear what's next for the airport, specifically with Spirit, with how many Spirit visitors we do get. If Spirit leaves, it kind of leaves us in the unknown."
The entire expansion project for the terminal is set to take place over the next three years. Potentially, once construction is complete, the airport will be easily able to accommodate four non-stop domestic flights a day. But the question still is, what airline will be arriving and departing once the new facility is built?
Monzo says that whoever the carrier is, Latrobe will be ready.
"It's ultra load discount carrier service and we don't want to lose that," said Monzo. "Whether it be Spirit, Frontier, Avelo or whoever it might be, we are in great shape to provide service to anybody."