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MARTINSBURG -- The Altoona-Blair County Airport is still on track to reach 11,000 enplanements by the end of the year, with Contour Airlines carrying 1,986 passengers in and out of the airport in October, airport manager Tracy Plessinger said.
Enplanements for October were up 8% from September but down 7% from October 2025, according to Plessinger.
During Wednesday's airport authority board meeting, Kristin Garcia, Contour's new marketing manager, noted the airline had a 100% overall completion rating in October and recapped some of the airport's digital marketing strategies.
Garcia started in her position about three and a half months ago and virtually addressed the board via a Microsoft Teams video call to introduce herself to the airport authority. She noted Contour is trying to get more community involvement and is willing to participate in future airport authority meetings.
As far as operational aspects, Contour officials are "feeling really great about everything" at the Altoona-Blair County Airport, Garcia said.
In September and October, Meta and Google digital advertisements for Contour's Altoona service yielded nearly 483,000 impressions, leading to 8,488 total clicks and 3,791 landing-page views for Contour's Altoona service, Garcia said, noting those clicks reportedly translated into bookings and enplanements.
"Our paid digital (advertising) has been performing really well," Garcia said. "This is just with any kind of Google search, and it is leading to bookings, which is obviously leading to our enplanements. So, we're really happy with the digital marketing aspect and the emphasis we're putting on that."
Referring to a WTAJ-TV weather camera the board tabled during last month's meeting, Garcia said the idea "looks like a really fun and interesting opportunity from the Contour side."
The airport authority tabled the two-year agreement with WTAJ-TV and Discover Blair County last month, with airport officials citing concerns with its reported $30,000 price tag.
Under the proposed agreement, Discover Blair County would pay $15,000 to place a camera on the airport's roof to broadcast shots of Contour's jet during weather reports and other advertising.
Of the other $15,000, Contour agreed to pay half, which would leave the airport with the remaining $7,500. Last month, authority board members said while the camera and advertising would be nice, Contour would "reap the benefits" and should therefore pay the full $15,000.
The agreement was on Wednesday's agenda but remains tabled.
Vacant seat filled
Jessica Sheets of the Blair County Planning Commission said the airport's representative to the Blair Metropolitan Planning Organization is vacant and asked the airport authority to appoint a member to serve on the organization's board, which Plessinger said largely oversees transportation policies for the county.
As Sheets was talking, board member Seth Smith pointed at Adam Ward, who was the last authority board member to arrive for Wednesday's meeting and is the son of state Sen. Judy Ward, who serves as the Pennsylvania Senate transportation committee chair for the 2025-26 legislative session.
"If we have anybody on the board who's involved in ground transportation, that would be a good person to appoint probably," Plessinger said of Ward. "When you come late to church, you sit in the front row."
Ward accepted the position and was later appointed by the airport authority.
October 'a great month'
In other business, Plessinger said La Fiesta's sales for October were up 19% from September and down 2% from October 2025.
The airport's Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board license was recently renewed for another year, according to Plessinger, who said La Fiesta reimburses the airport for the license's cost.
Avis/Budget sales for October were up 2% from September and up 15% from October 2025, Plessinger said.
Avis/Budget manager Nick Bechtel was out of town this week, but overall the airport had "another really good month" in October, averaging about seven rental vehicles sold per day, Plessinger said.
In Bechtel's written report, he said the airport's rental volume is continuing to stay strong with 227 total rentals sold in October. Year over year, there was a slight increase in volume, Bechtel said.
"We noted during the October (Penn State University) games that performance of the team has started to impact the number of game-related rental customers," Bechtel wrote.
Plessinger said Coffee Coop's sales were up 31% from September and up 2% from October 2025.
"I don't know what happened. Everyone started drinking coffee," Plessinger said.
Plessinger said Congress is currently doing a review of the Alternate Essential Air Service program, which provides grants to local airport authorities to use in a variety of ways that suit their own needs, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's website.
A group from the U.S. Government Accountability Office recently visited the Altoona-Blair County Airport to ask questions about the program and how officials can improve it. Plessinger reportedly told them he has no concerns, other than he wishes the airport could be paid sooner.
The federal officials stated that both the Senate and the House of Representatives are "very much in support of" the Essential Air Service and Alternate Essential Air Service programs, and they don't expect any cuts to be made, according to Plessinger.
"Their study was to try to find ways to make the programs better and more efficient," Plessinger said.
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.