Johnstown airport officials discuss 2024 project plans

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — Work never stops at the John Murtha Cambria County Airport.

In July, the airport started working on a new 2-Unit Hangar, an approximately $2.45 million construction project. The money came from the CARES Act funding that the airport received in 2023.

According to Cory Cree, the airport manager, the hangar will house corporate jets and aircrafts.

“It’ll provide additional revenue for the airport which is always needed. We want to maximize the space that we had between the existing hangars to build a new [one],” he said.

Cree said that this project is the first of many, as the airport plans for even more development in the near future.

In Spring 2024, there airport will be accepts bids for a project to widen Fox Run Road, the path that leads up to the hangars. The expansion of the road would accommodate tractor trailer width and bring in additional traffic and revenue.

“There’s a lot of great career opportunities here,” Cree said.

Starting for the fall semester of 2024, Saint Francis University will offer an Aircraft and Powerplant (A&P) maintenance program that will be held at the airport.

“An aircraft mechanic can come here or someone who wants to be an aircraft mechanic can come here and in 19 months get their certificate from the A&P school and then become an aircraft mechanic,” he said.

The airport has also seen a larger number of travelers this year than they’ve seen in almost two decades.

“We’ve seen passenger numbers up with SkyWest Airlines and United Express here doing business,” Cree said. “We’re going to have over 14,000 passengers here in the calendar year 2023, which is the largest since at least 2005.”

With the way construction’s going, the hangar project is expected to be complete around February 2024.