The State College Regional Airport seems like a reasonable gateway for students, travellers, and visitors to fly, yet many travellers bypass the airport in favour of other airports miles farther away, so much so that the local airport seems underused by the community it serves. Exploring why it is so underused may shed light on the trade-offs students and travellers make between price and convenience.
One of the reasons why travellers or residents of State College refuse to fly using the State College Airport is because of the limited flight options, connections, and destinations.
As a regional airport, it normally does not offer direct flights to popular destinations, but instead offers connecting flights to other airports. People value convenience and ease, and they want to get to their destination as soon as possible.
“State College is just a smaller airport, so they only really fly to Philadelphia, whereas other airports are bigger, so you can get flights normally where you’re going instead of taking connecting flights,” sophomore Aaron Brushwood said.
The cost of the tickets to a flight is another very important thing to consider when making travel decisions. Flights out of smaller airports offer more expensive tickets due to lower demand for flights and fewer travellers.
“They could probably have better pricing, I think that the pricing is the main reason why it isn’t as used,” sophomore Everett Klinger said. “I mean, it depends on where I’m heading to, but if I am going somewhere close, I would probably use the State College Airport again, just because of its proximity.
Another reason contributing to an airport’s low usage could be that it faces larger competition. If another airport offers direct flights and lower costs for flight tickets, most people would normally choose that one over smaller regional airports like the one in State College.
“The reason why it may not be used is because it isn’t an international airport or it isn’t as big as other airports, so it only takes you to places close to us, such as Philadelphia and then to Saint Louis,” sophomore Sarah Zembower said.
Reliability is another thing that many travellers and visitors focus on when choosing an airport. Smaller regional airports could be more likely to face increased disruptions, delays, and cancellations, especially during bad weather. Larger airports, on the other hand, do not face such problems because they offer more reliable flights that go to the same location, instead of just sending one plane. They also give passengers more options, or even backup plans that they could use to get to their destination quicker, which most small and regional airports do not offer.
So while the State College Regional Airport offers clear simplicity and proximity, many travellers prioritize cost, flexibility and reliability when making their decision on which airport to fly to their destination. The choice of larger airports over smaller and regional ones highlights how people’s individual choices differ and how the future of an airport may depend on whether they can adapt to change.
With strategies such as expanding routes and their organization, reducing prices, or increasing awareness in the community, the State College Regional Airport could become a more popular option. Whether the changes come from the airport itself or the travellers, the question still remains: can the airport improve itself as a more common choice?
