PITTSTON TWP. — In November 2023, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Executive Director Carl Beardsley announced that Breeze Airways would provide service to Orlando, Florida — prompting Beardsley to exclaim, “good things happen to those who wait.”
The arrival of Breeze in January 2024 ended a several years absence of nonstop service to the popular vacation spot.
And at Thursday’s meeting of the Bi-County Airport Board, Beardsley reported just what a difference having Breeze provide that service has meant to the airport and its customers.
“Our April performance report is really positive,” Beardsley said. “We saw a 26.4% increase in passenger boarding.”
Then Beardsley reported that Breeze Airways has seen a 329% increase in boardings. Beardsley said the airport’s passenger flow has been on the rise for several months and he complimented Breeze, American and United for doing a great job.
Beardsley reported passenger enplanements for the month of April 2025 increased 26.4% to 22,556 from 17,852 in the month of April 2024.
In April 2025, Beardsley said four departing flights were cancelled — two for weather and two for maintenance. This accounts for 211 (0.8%) out of a total of 27,496 departure seats, he said. Also, three arriving flights were cancelled — one for weather and two for maintenance, Beardsley.
Since Breeze began service at the airport, it has added flights to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and Fort Myers and Tampa in Florida within the last year.
In other business, the board:
• Approved several personnel moves presented by Michelle Aigeldinger, Director of Human Resources.
— Accepted the resignation of Denise Price, Assistant Director of Public Safety, Taylor, effective May 7.
Approved the following Maintenance 1 appointments:
— Pietro Cupelli, Covington Township
— Samuel Danaher, Duryea
— Adam Kizer, Lake Ariel
— Alysa Stone, Moscow
Approved the appointment of Kristen Barone, Dunmore, to Assistant Director of Public Safety effective June 2.
• Approved the financial report of Chris Dalessandro, Director of Finance.
— Airport operations had an income totaling $177,003, compared to an income of $78,893 in April 2024 — a difference of $98,110.
— Year to date, airport profit is $419,740, compared to a loss in 2024 of $188,683 — a difference of $608,423.
— Invoices received since the last meeting for supplies and services totaling $901,866.83 — including major construction project costs of $413,650.80.
• Approved the agreement for window cleaning services between Luzerne and Lackawanna counties and PJ’s Window Cleaning, Next Generation LLC.
• Authorized the advertisement for bids for solar panel development.