Editor’s note: This article is by Tommy Gardner of the Stowe Reporter, in which it was first published Nov. 25, 2015.
On Tuesday, the Morrisville-Stowe State Airport welcomed the maiden flight of Tradewind Aviation, a PC-12 aircraft flying in from Westchester County, New York, in a flight that took about an hour.
Regularly scheduled flights between Stowe and White Plains — about 30 miles north of New York City’s Grand Central Station — don’t begin until Dec. 11, but, hey, some folks had to get back to Stowe for Thanksgiving.
Among the passengers was the daughter of Stowe Aviation CEO Russell Barr and his wife, Toni.
“Leave it to Hannah Barr to make her way onto the maiden flight,” Russ Barr chuckled this week.
When the new route between Morrisville-Stowe and Westchester County Airport begins Dec. 11, there will be two round trips per week to start with. Flights leave Westchester for Stowe on Friday afternoons at 3 and 6:30, with a flight from Stowe to Westchester at 4:45 Friday afternoons. Flights leave Stowe for Westchester on Sundays at 3 and 6:30 p.m., with an inbound flight in between.
One-way flights start at $350 plus tax, or as low as $250 when purchased as part of a commuter booklet.
It’s been about 30 years since the Morrisville-Stowe Airport had regularly scheduled routes. Air Vermont, a short-lived commuter airline, operated scheduled flights there between 1981 and 1984.
Stowe Aviation is working hard, both in the local and New York City markets, to get the word out about the new routes. Among other places, the news has made Town and Country and AFAR magazines.
The Barrs also hosted a soiree to celebrate the first flight at their Stowe home Friday night that drew 150 people. Russ Barr said among the party-goers were Vermont Secretary of Commerce Pat Moulton, gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter, and people from all the major local resorts and hotels.
Next week, the airport, along with the Lamoille Region Chamber of Commerce, is hosting a “meet and greet” at the airport with the Tradewinds founders, brothers Eric and David Zipkin. The event is Wednesday, Dec. 2, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.
In addition to meeting the Zipkins, people at the open house can check out their aircraft — the PC-12 will be on display — and discuss the company’s new Boston and Stowe routes, along with plans for 2016.
“Visiting the airport, seeing the aircraft and talking with the Tradewind Aviation team will allow business owners and their staff to better communicate to clients the options available to them for them getting to the region,” Tom Anderson, Stowe Aviation President and CFO, said in an email. “The airport is another gateway to our region and scheduled airline service is a positive economic impact for all of us.”
