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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

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