ADI Flights Go on Sale when Clock Strikes 12

VIENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Officials at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport get at least three calls a day from travelers who ask when they can get tickets for flights to Chicago.

The answer: After midnight tonight.

Aerodynamics Inc. will load booking information for daily service between the regional airport and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago this evening, Dan Dickten, director of aviation at the airport, said this morning. Tickets will be available at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday on ADI’s website, and after midnight Sunday on booking websites such as Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and other online reservation systems.

Beginning last week, the tickets had been expected to be available for the June 1 launch date but an issue with the reservation system had to be corrected, Dickten said.

ADI’s bookings originally were to be hosted on Fort Lauderdale’s Silver Airways. Great Lakes Airlines in Cheyenne, Wyo., now will host bookings for ADI on its reservations system.

YWRC officials met with representative of United Airlines to “get their blessing, so to speak,” Dickten said

“United is one of the three airlines that this will interline with,” he said. “It’s the main one. It’s the one that has the most connecting flights out of Chicago, so we definitely want their good graces.”  ADI will also connect with American and Delta airlines.

Once the ticketing information is entered this evening and goes live tomorrow, ADI will have 30 days of bookings in advance of the first flight July 1.

“It’s not even enough to say we’re all excited about it because obviously we are,” said John Moliterno, executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority, which operates the airport. “The Chicago flights are a tremendous step forward for us as an airport.”

Wherever he goes, Moliterno is asked when flights will begin, he said. Even calls to the port authority’s economic development division invariably come around to queries about the flights.

“The Chicago flight [service] is something that has piqued the interest of the people of the Valley. They’re legitimately excited about the opportunity,” he said.

“I’m amazed at how many people have children or grandchildren or friends that live in Chicago that they go visit,” he added.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.