The Williamsport Regional Airport in Montoursville, Pa. (Heather Ainsworth for The Washington Post/Getty Images

Strolling into Pennsylvania's Williamsport Regional Airport is a strange experience.

It has whatever you're utilized to seeing in a terminal building: check-in desks, a baggage carousel, automobile rental counters.

However there's something missing-- travelers.

There haven't been any airline flights out of Williamsport since American Airlines left in 2021.

To lose service completely is rare. But the withdrawal of tradition airlines from local airports is a growing phenomenon.

American, Delta and United combined have actually left 74 regional airports considering that the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study by air travel consulting firm Ailevon Pacific.

Changing economics

A shortage of pilots is partly to blame for major airline companies' departure from smaller airports. Altering airline company economics implies the challenge facing regional airports could end up being insurmountable.

" The 50-seat jet today is simply not economic as it was 10 years back. Labor costs going up.

Those are the planes that generally service regional airports like Williamsport, which is why we're likely to see more small cities lose their airline company service, according to Swelbar.

" In the West, the ranges are greater, the terrain is harder, people require to fly. Whereas you search in the East, there's lots of airports that are located in a particular location. And the highway system is excellent. That's why there will be more Williamsport," he stated.

As local airports significantly lack alternatives for passengers, it will change how many Americans start their journeys, Swelbar thinks.

" The highway has become and will become the very first access point to the air transport grid moving forward," he included. "Not every community can support the trend towards bigger airframes."

Difficult sensations

Despite the economics, the method tradition airlines are leaving smaller cities is frustrating to Richard Howell, the executive director at Williamsport Regional Airport.

" During COVID the airline companies took $55 billion worth of money from the federal government for a range of loans and PPP and all the rest of it. Richard Howell, the executive director at Williamsport Regional Airport, stands in the terminal structure.

In a statement to NPR, American Airlines said: "It's always challenging to choose to end service to a market and there are constantly a number of factors to consider, including client need, alternative airport access for regional residents and market restraints like the regional captain lack.".

The economic effect of their decision to leave is already being felt.

World Travel International is a travel agency based inside the airport. However in a vicious paradox, the business's clients can't start their journeys there.

" It's really unfortunate. To understand that we can't assist individuals that require immediate service to leave right from here. Or like our older clients, having to pay a motorist to get them to other airports because they're no longer able to make those drives," stated owner Julie Johnston McManus.

" We've lost all our walk-by traffic," she included.

Beyond the terminal

It's not just inside the airport where companies are struggling due to the fact that of the lack of air service.

That's been recognized as a huge problem by site specialists aiming to possibly bring companies to Williamsport.

The Williamsport Lycoming Chamber of Commerce welcomes companies to check out the city throughout the Little League World Series, which is held every year.

" We all work to attempt to get them to land their projects here. Last year was the very first year that we did it post-COVID. And it was also the first time that we did it without an air service," said the Chamber's president and CEO Jason Fink. "And the primary deficiency that was mentioned was the failure to quickly get here.".

In another ironic twist for a city without airline service, one of the most significant companies is Lycoming Engines, which makes piston engines for aircraft.

" When you're trying to perform various service conferences and have the opportunity to bring in potential customers, you wish to have that flight service readily available in your city," said Shannon Massey, senior vice president at Lycoming Engines.

It's likewise impacting Lycoming's recruitment process.

" If you're trying to have actually prospects been available in and they wish to be talked to, they have relative. And they would like to know if they can or can't get to their families in a certain range," Massey added.

Hope for the future

Howell believes his airport can still rebound, if he can get some help from Congress.

He wants Williamsport to return into a program called Essential Air Service (EAS).

It offers grants to airline companies to fly to places where it's hard to earn money.

Williamsport left when Congress changed the guidelines in 2012, stating that airports who didn't use EAS funds the previous year were no longer eligible.

At that time, the airport didn't need the money. However it does now.

" There's carriers out there that all they do is EAS due to the fact that it's fully subsidized. They've got no danger. Even if I could simply get back in the program for five or 6 years or something like that, so we get past this pilot thing," stated Howell.

" Just get me in the door. Ultimately we get back to where we were, where there's no aid at all. The market sustains itself," he added.

But Howell understands the truth that cities like Williamsport are dealing with in an age where smaller aircrafts are grounded.

" The planes keep getting bigger and bigger. So you out there with your 75 seat aircrafts and things like that, you're next," he stated.

An old Challenger jet utilized to train students of the Pennsylvania College of Technology is seen behind a fence at Williamsport Regional Airport.

On the airfield at Williamsport Regional, a lone green tractor mows the turf.

But lastly, an aircraft is spotted heading for the runway, a small blue and white private aircraft.

It's the type of airplane that might be utilized to discover how to fly. And this pilot practiced a touch-and-go landing prior to right away taking off once again.

Circling around the airport and duplicating the procedure, there was no rush.

There's lots of time for training when you have the runway all to yourself.

The audio version of this story was edited by Halimah Abdullah. The digital version was modified by Treye Green.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, check out https://www.npr.org.

Adam Bearne, NPR.