Zachary Stull spent Friday morning at the auto shop, preparing his car for a 15-hour drive from Westmoreland County to Orlando, Florida.
Stull, 43, of Bolivar, had planned a trip to Disney months ago with his wife and their 6-year-old son. It was only four days ago that he realized the Spirit Airlines flight he had booked from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity was on the first day of the Westmoreland Airshow, Aug. 17.
“I happened to look on Facebook and someone posted about the air show, and I just thought, ‘Oh man, that’s the day we’re flying,'” Stull said.
Stull took to social media to seek advice from Westmoreland County residents on the issue.
He decided to cancel his flight after reading comments from people who said they had previously had negative experiences flying out of Unity Airport during the air show. Some social media users sent Stull direct messages and suggested he and his family take an Uber to avoid parking at the airport.
“The one lady said it ruined her honeymoon,” Stull said. “She said they went on their honeymoon (during the air show) and missed a whole day of their trip.”
Stull and his family fly out of the airport about five or six times a year.
“It’s easy to fly from Spirit and Latrobe,” he said. “There’s no wait and a round-trip flight costs $120.”
He wants to use the credit from the flight for a trip in February.
“Honestly, I just didn’t want the stress,” Stull said. “I’d rather know exactly what I was going to do a week in advance so I don’t have to worry about waiting four hours at the airport with my child.”
Airport expects minimal traffic problems
Gabe Monzo, airport general manager, said a commercial Spirit flight will depart from the airport on Aug. 17. Some corporate or charter flights will also likely depart during the two-day show.
Monzo said passengers departing the airport during the air show can park right in front of the building. He doesn’t anticipate any problems with traffic, which is managed by state police and volunteer firefighters from Unity’s seven fire departments.
“The traffic shouldn’t be too heavy,” he said. “It’s a small show. It’s not a (US Air Force) Thunderbirds show or anything like that.”
Flights departing from the airport during the air show have been part of the event schedule for about five years, Monzo said. As crews prepare the planes for takeoff, an air show announcer will explain to spectators what is happening.
“People seem to enjoy it because they don’t know what people are actually doing (with the plane) in detail,” Monzo said.
“You can see the loading belts. You can see the luggage being loaded onto the planes,” he said. “You can see how they push the plane back, how that works, how the plane is attached – all things we do every day, and the people who come to the air show have never seen anything like it before.”
Monzo advised passengers to arrive two hours before their flight departure on August 17 as usual and to allow an additional 15 minutes for the traffic disruption.
Overlaps between air show and Westmoreland Fair
This year’s air show overlaps with the Westmoreland Fair, which is scheduled to begin August 16. The fairgrounds are located about 6½ miles from the fairgrounds.
Since the approval to hold the air show comes from the US Department of Defense, the airport has no influence on the scheduling, Monzo said.
“Because we’re a small show, we’ll take pretty much whatever they give us,” he said. “We’re not a big player. We’re a small fish in a big pond, so we’ll take what we can get, whenever we can get it.”
The air show has previously taken place in May, June and September, Monzo said – even during graduation ceremonies or weddings at Saint Vincent College.
