State College airport ‘not done yet’ after adding Charlotte flights. What’s next?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Two daily nonstop flights to Charlotte start Oct. 5, 2026.
- The air alliance filed an $800,000 federal grant application to pursue Florida service.
- One of the alliance’s goals is to bring back Delta Air Lines with flights to Detroit.
Days after announcing the addition of nonstop flights to Charlotte, an official involved with expanding air service at State College Regional Airport wanted to make something clear.
“We’re not done yet,” he told the CDT.
Greg Scott, president/CEO of the Chamber of Business and Industry in Centre County, said adding those daily flights — via American Airlines — was just the beginning. And, if things go according to plan, visitors to State College’s airport could see at least one more nonstop destination announced before the end of the calendar year, in addition to several other changes over the next two years.
Scott should know. He helped organize the State College Air Service Alliance, a formal partnership between several county organizations that launched last year and largely helped land the new Charlotte flights. The alliance involves the airport, CBICC, Penn State and Happy Valley Adventure Bureau.
“This is a perfect example of a community coming together to execute on a strategy, or a plan or a goal, that we had put in place,” Scott said during a sit-down interview at CBICC’s downtown State College office.
Adding another destination?
The main goal of the air alliance, which was launched during last October’s air service summit, remains to simply expand air service at State College’s airport. That’s why adding two daily flights to Charlotte, starting Oct. 5, was just one step and not the end goal.
The next step is to attract a new low-cost airline to the airport so it doesn’t just play host to American Airlines and United Airlines. And, based on traveler data within 60 miles of State College, the most desired destinations include Orlando, South Florida (West Palm Beach, Miami, Fort Lauderdale) and Tampa/St. Petersburg.
According to a news release, the air alliance recently submitted an $800,000 federal grant application — and an unnamed low-cost airline has provided a letter of support “expressing intent to explore service” to Florida, if the grant is awarded.
Breeze Airways expressed interest last summer in adding direct Florida flights from State College, but there was no mention of any specific carrier in the news release. Scott would only tell the CDT that conversations were ongoing with “multiple” such carriers and remained sensitive.
He said a low-cost airline with flights to Florida would prove invaluable to the community because it’s unique to central Pennsylvania, the demand is there, and it attracts leisure travelers. Plus, the roundtrip price from a low-cost airline should be much more appealing — and, in Scott’s experience, typically ranged from $150 to $250 out of Harrisburg.
“But the bottom line is, if we don’t get the grant, we’re not stopping,” Scott added. “We’ll just have to find a new way to keep going and get those funds.”
Scott expects a decision on the grant by this fall. And, if the low-cost airline does ultimately decide to move forward, Scott is hopeful that it could trigger a domino effect — because many low-cost carriers typically don’t stop at just one flight destination.
“It wouldn’t be uncommon if we were able to land them that, within six months to a year, they’ve got two additional locations to go to — potentially in Florida, potentially in the Carolinas — that would just be fantastic for our area,” Scott added.
State College has been without service to Florida for more than four years. Allegiant Air previously hosted flights there from October 2019 to May 2022, but it stopped service in the wake of complications from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bringing back Delta
Another stated goal of the air alliance is the return of Delta Air Lines, which left State College’s airport in the summer of 2023. The legacy carrier departed after it was forced to reduce flights nationwide due to an industry-wide pilot and crew shortage.
In past years, Delta hosted local flights to and from Detroit. Scott said those legs were always “really popular,” but State College was just a victim of circumstances.
“We have had conversations with them, and our initial feedback is they want to come back and they just need to work some things out,” Scott said, referring to Delta. “It may probably not be before 2028, but the lines of communication are open.”
Currently, State College Regional Airport hosts only two legacy carriers and three direct destinations. (The fourth — to Charlotte, North Carolina — will start up in October.) American Airlines operates flights to Philadelphia, while United Airlines handles flights to Chicago and Washington, D.C.
A return of Delta Air Lines would be a critical step forward for the airport and air alliance, especially with potential access to major hubs such as Detroit and Atlanta.
Scott said no airport expansion would be necessary to handle additional service involving American (Charlotte), a low-cost airline (Florida) and Delta (Detroit).
“Beyond that, I’m not sure,” he added.
Why now? What’s changed?
State College and Centre County have long wanted increased air service, but today’s moves can trace their roots to around November 2023 when the CBICC engaged more than 100 businesses, leaders and community stakeholders in asking what this area most needed to succeed economically.
The result was a 153-page Centre County Economic Development Strategic Plan, released in fall 2024, that identified increased air service as a key priority. A year later, at the Air Service Summit, the State College Air Service Alliance was formally announced — with the goal of expanding said air service.
In the past, community organizations loosely worked together. But, officials said, past strategies were mostly reactive. If one organization spoke to an airline carrier about starting new flights, an interested carrier might ask for six-figure incentives — and the involved organization then struggled meeting those demands in a matter of weeks.
Now, many of those same organizations are working closely together as formal partners. They’re more proactive now, establishing an ongoing Fly State College Fund they can use to pay those incentives.
After all, commercial air travel is a low-profit business. In fact, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll, told those attending last fall’s air service summit that no airline carrier would’ve been profitable that quarter if not for their respective credit card programs.
Airline carriers risk losing money on new flight routes, so they need short-term financial incentives to compel them to take that risk. That could mean waived landing fees, terminal rent and/or security fees, in addition to free marketing.
Ralph Stewart, interim executive director of the Centre County Airport Authority, said last week the Fly State College Fund played an “important role” in attracting the new flights to Charlotte. Also playing a big role was the new market data the alliance uncovered.
One key piece: An Air Service Leakage Study found that 87% of regional travelers skipped State College for other airports like Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Baltimore/Washington, meaning there’s more demand in this area than carriers might’ve initially thought.
“These things put us in a position to advance conversations with American in a much more aggressive timeline than we even imagined we would have,” Scott said.
That data wouldn’t have been uncovered without the alliance.
2026 & beyond
A lot’s already happened in 2026 involving the airport.
Not only were two daily flights to Charlotte added, but the airport also added what amounts to about 26,000 more seats to two existing destinations in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Penn State is also in the process of transferring its airport assets to the airport authority, a move that’s expected to result in a more efficient budget structure that should lower costs for carriers.
But one of the ongoing goals remains raising money toward the Fly State College Fund, which typically goes toward incentives that attract airline carriers. Those interested in contributing can do so on FlyStateCollege.com.
Scott emphasized that every little bit helps and that they’ve received donations ranging from $5 to $25,000. Nearly $200,000 has been raised since the fund was started last fall.
“What we heard was the number of contributors matter to them,” Scott said, referring to airline carriers, “because it was a strong signal of support that the community was behind it, and it was willing to invest its own dollars to say, ‘This airport’s important. We want to fly out of this airport.’”
The Centre County Airport Authority next meets at 7 p.m. June 11 in the airport’s terminal conference room, and more information on the air alliance can be found at FlyStateCollege.com.
