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John Murtha airport - the $150 Million facility for 20 passengers a day
Which US airport has a reinforced concrete runway capable of handling any kind of plane in the country, a $14 Million hangar, a $7 Million control tower and an $8 Million radar installation? No, it isn't O'Hare or LAX. It's the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, airport, JST for short.
This disgrace of an airport has been sucking in an insane $150 Million in tax payer money in the past decade, all to serve a measly 20 passengers a day.
In fact, the airport really does not have any real right to exist, because the place is so expensive, that the government has to subsidize every single passenger flying in and out of JST with 100 bucks. That's right - despite the $150 Million this place already received, the tax payers still need to pay more just to keep it running.
The airport is not really an airport, it's more of a monument to honor the man behind its name - Rep. John Murtha. Murtha is the man we can all thank for providing the Johnstown-Cambria County areas with such a fantastic facility.
To make the joke even funnier, the airport was just allocated $800,000 in federal stimulus money to repave its alternate runway, just in case they ever get some more air traffic., or if its current main runway can't handle the heavy load of 6 planes a day (all operated by United Airlines on the Johnstown - Dulles route).
Folks trying to justify the place point out that the airfield also provides a home to several military units, but they forget to mention that all those units fly helicopters, not planes.
Filed under: United States, Airports, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Carlos Apr 26th 2009 8:22PM
Hey stop complaining man!! You are just like the rest of the media that think you know everything about the facility. What you don't know is that it supplies jobs, it gives local people the opportunity to fly without having to drive 2 and a half hours. Not to mention were in I think a Recession! So of course right know less people are traveling, so if you look at every airport across the U.S. and the world you will see less traffic. So don't pertend that you know everything about the airport. You come in on a Thursday, a day that is slower than other days of the week and expect to write a report off of your one day experience. You should of came in December when I flew out for a family get together and you would have seen a full flight to D.C. and back. But you failed to mention that in your report. So instead of causing more gossip and problems for an area that has been through a lot of job losses why don't you write about the problems that your hometown is in and leave our community alone before you take more jobs and opportunities away.
People of Johnstown we must continue to fly through the airport. Don't let the media scare you off. It is a good asset to our community and helps bring people to our city, to fill our hotels, stores and restaruants. We need people to fly so our economy can pick up! So FLY Johnstown!
byron Apr 27th 2009 4:54PM
Carlos,
Your argument is even worse, that airport does very little in terms of contributing to the local economy, in fact it would have been better to have a $25 million airport and invest the other $175 million in better endeavors. The author mentions 20 passengers a day- that is an average over the course of a year so if you consider your point of increased travel through the airport in holidays then the adjusted average for "normal" days would be much less- If they had enough passengers then taxpayers wouldn't have to fork over $100 for every ticket to help cover costs. Business 101- anything that loses money and is a bad model should be shut down. Murtha is just another corrupt politician who has funded a monument to himself with taxpayer money and there is no fiscal way to justify this negligent use of MY taxes
StaberDearth May 11th 2009 12:07PM
LOL!
You are as much of a jerk as Murtha is. That makes sense since you most likely voted for him. Your argument is unbelievable. I won't waste anyone else's time in explaining why.
John Euliano Apr 28th 2009 2:43PM
Sort of reminds me of "Erie International Airport / Tom Ridge Field"!!!
Benjamin Napier Apr 29th 2009 12:25PM
This is indeed just another example of a corrupt scum ball politician stealing other people's money and building a monument to himself and to buy a few votes. There should be no government involvement in any sort of transportation other than the oversight role provided in the Interstate Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.
If this a good idea, then we need to build a really cool airport here in Anderson, TX. I hate driving two hours to Houston to fly anywhere!