MARTINSBURG — The Altoona-Blair County Airport operated at a loss of more than $400,000 during 2023, according to a financial report prepared by Young Oakes Brown & Company.

The annual financial report for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023, was distributed to airport authority members by YOBCO CPA and Partner Dave Scott during its monthly meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The airport had total operating revenues of $4,689,895 and total operating expenses of $5,113,428, reflecting a loss of about $423,533, according to the report.

Scott said that if the airport added back its depreciation expense of $618,120, then it “really had a positive income of $194,597.”

“I want to mention, Tracy (Airport Manager Tracy Plessinger) said about how broke you are, but you do have cash on hand on this day (Dec. 31) of $176,062,” Scott said. “Obviously you need more cash on hand, but I would say that, based on prior years, that’s obviously a positive.”

Authority member Drew Swope agreed.

“For the last 10 years I’ve been here, I agree that it’s come a long way,” Swope said.

In other matters, Air Conrad expanded its flight training service at the airport by hiring a full-time certified flight instructor and three more aircraft for training. According to Adam Ward, who owns and operates Air Conrad, there is also a possibility of the flight school obtaining a check pilot.

Plessinger said that when a pilot completes their flight training with an instructor, they need to be “checked out” by a qualified, FAA certified designated pilot examiner. This check out includes an oral test and a check flight.

“Having a DPE available at AOO makes it much more convenient for the new pilots training at Adam’s flight school to get fully certified,” Plessinger said.

Ward said that other local airports are “chomping at the bit” to hire a check pilot and have to bring someone down from Erie to do the job.

“So having a check ride, a check pilot on the field is a game changer,” Ward said. “That’s one of the reasons I hired (the certified flight instructor) because I thought that the minute this hits, everybody’s going to want to come over and do some flight training and get familiar. We’ll be doing a lot of our check rounds out here. Which means more planes coming here, more fuel sales, the whole thing.”

The authority also approved a motion to seek requests for proposals regarding its stormwater management plan.

“There is a large drainage pipe that goes down the center of the county road leading up to the airport,” Plessinger said. “We want to intercept that pipe and divert the water into a retention pond or other stormwater facility on airport property.”

According to Plessinger’s manager’s report, Contour Airlines had an overall completion rate of 88% for March.

“It’s almost 100% mechanical issues, the cancellations,” Plessinger told the authority. “In fact, I think it’s 100% …They now have mechanical staff at Philadelphia but … it’s just a big airport to try to get things done at.”

Passenger numbers for April were down 15% from March and up 28% from April 2023, according to the manager’s report. Contour carried 571 passengers in and out of AOO in April 2024.

Plessinger said the airport’s current contract with Contour runs through Sept. 30 and the authority has made an application to the Department of Transportation for funding to continue the service, but switch the hub city to Charlotte, N.C., (CLT) instead of Philadelphia (PHL).

“We believe that the CLT hub will solve many of the operational issues that we have experienced at PHL, including the ongoing mechanical issues, as well as providing more connections for our passengers,” Plessinger said in an email.

While the authority has submitted the application, it has not yet been approved, Plessinger pointed out. The authority hopes to have a formal decision from the Department of Transportation by mid-June.

As part of his manager’s report, Plessinger said La Fiesta sales for April were down 17% from March and down 6% from April of 2023.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.