The Altoona-Blair County Airport and the facility’s airport authority need offer no excuses or apologies for the facility’s “down” numbers for the month of January.

In fact, the numbers recorded were excellent, considering the deplorable weather conditions during virtually the entire month — in a winter-weather time during which well-below-normal, icy-cold temperatures didn’t just visit, but were so persistent that they caused some pessimistic people to fear that they might become permanent.

“Cabin Fever” was rampant in some households.

The bad weather was responsible for numerous traffic accidents, caused fear of frostbite, wreaked havoc on components of some vehicles, dealt a severe blow to heating bills, caused fear of damage to waterlines — and the list can go on and on.

“Thanks” to the polar-like weather, numerous other airports across America recorded similar or weaker numbers than what were logged here and had to muster their best resources to adequately cope with or respond to the weather misery.

It was during the local airport authority’s meeting on Feb. 11 that Tracy Plessinger, airport manager, reported that there were 11 flight cancellations in January, only one of which was not weather-related.

“A lot of times it wasn’t on this end,” Plessinger said, “it was on the Charlotte (N.C.) end that things were being canceled.”

Plessinger reported that Contour Airlines’ overall completion rate for January was 91%. Passenger numbers were down 29% from December and down 9% from January 2025.

Contour carried 1,293 passengers to and from Martinsburg in January, according to the airport manager.

Many people working in numerous occupations had roles in addressing needs stemming from the harshness of this winter, and that includes the professionals whose job it is to keep aircraft in top condition for their important performance in transporting passengers safely and on time to whatever the destination.

Consider what would happen to the local airport if it did not have such professionals on board, day in and day out.

These are heroes, just like the crew members who actually man the cockpits, especially during times of such weather turbulence and sometimes fast-changing conditions.

Thank them when you have the opportunity to meet them.

Keep in mind that every aspect of every flight has important people assigned to it. And, so many aspects are dependent on the flawless performance of other aspects and components.

Well-known is that one error or incorrect decision can be catastrophic.

Meanwhile, people old enough to remember the 1950s through 1970s can attest to the fact that many winters during those decades were much harsher than the winter of 2025-26.

This winter in Blair County was a miserably cold and windy one — indeed, a dangerous one — but the amount of snow overall did not compare with snowfall amounts during many of the years in those earlier decades.

Back then, it was common for snow to be piled much higher than highway guardrails, and the snow did not melt quickly.

This winter, then, did not stack up to the severity of those other winters but it packed a significant punch nonetheless that posed a challenge for many entities, including the Altoona-Blair County Airport.

“Weather stymies airport numbers” was the headline of a Feb. 12 Mirror article, but numbers don’t matter, as long as safety is the priority.