History
Decades ago, the airport had flights carrying cargo to and from Canada, which was enough to be granted "international" status. These flights no longer exist, but the "international" status, granted in 1975, remains because the airport has a full-time U.S. Customs office.
Besides hosting regional airline service to major hubs, the airport has had many special visitors over the past decade. Air Force One has landed with Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama for fundraisers and campaign trips throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania. A charter plane carrying Hillary Clinton also used the airport during her presidential run in 2008.
In May 2006, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport completed an $80 million construction project on an entirely new terminal and parking garage. The new terminal was designed by HNTB has many conveniences such as jetways, a bigger waiting area, more gates, and a shopping and dining area.
The airport was once home to a Hooters Air non-stop flight to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and it currently hosts seasonal Southwest Airlines non-stop chartered flights to Orlando. Also, in May 2008, Southern Skyways was planning to introduce a non-stop seasonal flight to Myrtle Beach. However, Myrtle Beach Direct Air operated those flights until leaving the airport in August 2008 in favor of serving Allentown Airport.
The name "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport" was coined by Congressman Daniel J. Flood of Wilkes-Barre. He had a love of the city, so he said Wilkes-Barre should be first, although Scranton is the larger city, and that Scranton comes first alphabetically.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport has seen major changes to its route map between 2001 and 2012. Continental Airlines stopped service to its Cleveland hub and chose to begin service to Newark-Liberty in the hopes of attracting international travelers. After the merger with United Airlines, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton now sees four daily Dash-8 departures to Newark-Liberty complementing the existing two daily Embraer 145 departures to Chicago-O'Hare. Delta Air Lines also adjusted their flights at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by temporarily stopping Atlanta service in preference of serving its new hub of Detroit. In 2012 Delta resumed the Atlanta flight using CRJ-700 aircraft operated by ExpressJet Airlines. As of August, 2012, Delta has five daily nonstops to AVP with four CRJ-200 flights to Detroit and one CRJ-700 flight to Atlanta. Not to be out done US Airways announced in April 2012 that they will be increasing their service to both Philadelphia International and Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Philadelphia will now be served up to seven times daily on Dash-8 and CRJ-200 aircrft. Charlotte will gain a third daily flight from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. This new flight will give passengers the option of connecting through Charlotte in the morning, the afternoon, and in the evening on CRJ-200, CRJ-700, and CRJ-900 aircraft. This brings US Airways daily departures up to ten. Also in April 2012 Allegiant Air announced twice weekly service to Orlando Sanford Airport on mainline MD-80 jet aircraft. The flights will start in June 2012 and will operate on Thursdays and Sundays.
As of November 2012, the airport has up to 20 daily departures to seven airports on four airlines: Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Chicago-O'Hare, Detroit Metro Airport, Newark Liberty Airport, Orlando Sanford Airport, and Philadelphia International Airport. Service is on aircraft ranging from 37 to 166 seats.
Another project that was completed in late 2011 was the construction of a brand new control tower and Tracon facility. The old tower had a blocked view of the second runway due to the new terminal and was due to be replaced anyway. The project cost 18.8 million dollars and is being funded by the federal stimulus package. The tower opened August 29, 2012 with all 25 current controllers staying on to work in the new facility.
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