Hagerstown Regional Airport

A longtime employee of a Hagerstown land surveying firm, Richard Rice was thinking of a career change back in 2001 when he happened on the website for Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. The training and job possibilities sounded exciting, but Rice realized he couldn't work and still drive from his home near Greencastle, Pa., to Pittsburgh for classes every day, nor could he afford to move to Pittsburgh. “So I put the thought on a back burner,” Rice said. Then late last year, having been laid off after “20-some” years with the surveying company, Rice heard that PIA had opened a campus at Hagerstown Regional Airport, teaching aviation maintenance technology.

Cub Scouts from Pack 117 in Clear Spring took a guided tour April 2 of Hagerstown Regional Airport. The Scouts were accompanied by their cub master, den leaders and family members as they saw the airport terminal and fire and rescue center.   Gilson Spindle led the tour. For their next outing, the Scouts will participate in a community conservation project at Four Locks in Clear Spring.

After about 15 years as director of Hagerstown Regional Airport, Carolyn S. Motz has announced she plans to retire at the end of the year. "I just felt it was really a good time for me," Motz said Thursday, explaining she has been eligible to retire for about a year and already had put it off longer than she planned. The Washington County Commissioners agreed Tuesday that staff should prepare to seek a new director and said the vacancy presented an opportunity to consider restructuring the airport.

Hagerstown Regional Airport plans to use $12,298 in leftover revenue from a past passenger facility charge to finish repainting lines on taxiways this year, Airport Director Phil Ridenour said Monday. The $12,298 is left over from a past $4.50 passenger facility charge that began in March 2002, according to Ridenour and Herald-Mail archives. At that time, the passenger facility charge was increased from $3 to $4.50 to raise $308,000 to pay for construction of a building to house snow removal equipment, to buy snow removal equipment, and to buy a wheelchair lift device, according to Herald-Mail archives.

U.S. Rep. John Delaney visited the Hagerstown Regional Airport on Friday, taking time to speak with Washington County and airport officials about the possible affects that automatic federal spending cuts, known as sequestration, could have on the regional airport. Delaney, the U.S. representative for Maryland's 6th Congressional District, said the cuts could slash funding to the Federal Aviation Administration severely, potentially causing the closure of Hagerstown's air traffic control tower.

Businesses at Hagerstown Regional Airport have expressed concerns about the potential closure of the airport's air-traffic control tower as a result of federal budget cuts. At a roundtable meeting Wednesday, organized by Rider Jet Center, representatives of those businesses met to “get a uniform voice” about the situation, Airport Director Phil Ridenour said. According to Ridenour, the four-week phase-out of the 149 federal contract towers is set to begin April 7. Hagerstown's tower is scheduled to close May 5, he said.

Hagerstown Regional Airport (HGR) is one of the many hidden gems of Washington County. It is a primary link between our rural communities and the national transportation system. This link is vital to the growth of our county because it contributes to the economic base by providing and supporting the air transportation needs of the Quad-State area. Plus we cannot ignore the fact that the airport: • Costs very little to the taxpayer to operate. • Plays a key role in workforce development.

An economic impact study released Monday by the Maryland Aviation Administration ranked Hagerstown Regional Airport third out of 35 public-use airports in the state for 2012. Throughout the state, nearly 8,700 jobs can be traced to the aviation industry, creating personal wages of more than $442 million in the past year, the study shows. Additionally, more than $665 million in business revenue was generated, including approximately $222 million as a result of local purchases. Generating more than $109 million in business revenues and supporting a total of 1,338 aviation-related jobs, Hagerstown trailed only Martin State Airport ($224 million)

Without a staffed air traffic control tower, “there is going to be an incident” involving aircraft at or near Hagerstown Regional Airport, one concerned business owner said Thursday. “I feel very strongly that we are going to have an incident, and it's going to impact people on the ground as well as the crew in the aircraft when that happens,” said Austin Heffernan, owner of Royal Aircraft Services LLC on Airpark Road. Heffernan was one of five airport business officials who spoke Thursday during a news conference at the airport terminal, highlighting the local impact of proposed FAA cuts that would eliminate federal funding to 149 air control towers due to across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.

A deputy used a stun gun on a man Sunday morning after the man acted wildly when approached by police, who were responding to a call about a suspicious person on Basore Drive, Washington County Sheriff's Office officials said. Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore said the man appeared to have mental issues and deputies didn't know if he was “coming off some drugs.” “Apparently he was going wild,” Mullendore said. A stun gun was used once on the man, who was taken to Meritus Medical Center on an emergency petition for the psychiatric issue, Mullendore said.

Hagerstown Regional Airport (HGR) is one of the many hidden gems of Washington County. It is a primary link between our rural communities and the national transportation system. This link is vital to the growth of our county because it contributes to the economic base by providing and supporting the air transportation needs of the Quad-State area. Plus we cannot ignore the fact that the airport: • Costs very little to the taxpayer to operate. • Plays a key role in workforce development.

Without a staffed air traffic control tower, “there is going to be an incident” involving aircraft at or near Hagerstown Regional Airport, one concerned business owner said Thursday. “I feel very strongly that we are going to have an incident, and it's going to impact people on the ground as well as the crew in the aircraft when that happens,” said Austin Heffernan, owner of Royal Aircraft Services LLC on Airpark Road. Heffernan was one of five airport business officials who spoke Thursday during a news conference at the airport terminal, highlighting the local impact of proposed FAA cuts that would eliminate federal funding to 149 air control towers due to across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.

With Federal Aviation Administration funding cuts looming, Washington County officials have decided to seek state funding to help keep open the air-traffic control tower at Hagerstown Regional Airport. The tower is set to close May 5 if other arrangements are not made, according to airport Director Phil Ridenour, who met Tuesday with the Washington County Board of Commissioners to discuss options for keeping the tower operational. Hagerstown's tower was one of 149 federally contracted towers across the country selected for closure as a result of budget cuts necessitated by the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.

Businesses at Hagerstown Regional Airport have expressed concerns about the potential closure of the airport's air-traffic control tower as a result of federal budget cuts. At a roundtable meeting Wednesday, organized by Rider Jet Center, representatives of those businesses met to “get a uniform voice” about the situation, Airport Director Phil Ridenour said. According to Ridenour, the four-week phase-out of the 149 federal contract towers is set to begin April 7. Hagerstown's tower is scheduled to close May 5, he said.

An economic impact study released Monday by the Maryland Aviation Administration ranked Hagerstown Regional Airport third out of 35 public-use airports in the state for 2012. Throughout the state, nearly 8,700 jobs can be traced to the aviation industry, creating personal wages of more than $442 million in the past year, the study shows. Additionally, more than $665 million in business revenue was generated, including approximately $222 million as a result of local purchases. Generating more than $109 million in business revenues and supporting a total of 1,338 aviation-related jobs, Hagerstown trailed only Martin State Airport ($224 million)

Standing in front of a newly modified Hawker Beechcraft surveillance plane, U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski on Tuesday announced $43 million in federal funding recently approved by Congress devoted to outfitting two additional multirole enforcement aircraft to protect U.S. borders. Mikulski, an advocate for border patrol and protecting American jobs, told about 100 attendees inside the manufacturing facility of Sierra Nevada Corp. at Hagerstown Regional Airport that the money serves to preserve the “passport of the middle class,” helping to protect about 200 jobs in Maryland, including many of the company's 500-plus workforce locally.

The control tower at Hagerstown Regional Airport is included on a list of 149 regional airport control towers that will close because of federal budget cuts known as sequestration, the FAA announced Friday afternoon. “We got the word. We didn't like the word, but we got the word,” Hagerstown Regional Airport Director Phil Ridenour said Friday afternoon. A four-week, phased closure of the 149 control towers will begin on April 7, the FAA said, but Ridenour said it might be a week before he knows where in the order of closings Hagerstown Regional Airport will fall.

Hagerstown Regional Airport's proximity to Camp David and the possible economic effect on businesses at the airport are reasons the Federal Aviation Administration should consider keeping the airport's air traffic control tower open, Airport Director Phil Ridenour said Wednesday. Wednesday was the deadline for airports to pitch to the FAA why their control towers should remain open as the FAA prepares to enact cuts due to the federal budget cuts, known as sequestration. FAA officials will review submitted letters and make decisions on March 18 and are expected to announce March 20 which towers will remain open or will close, Ridenour said.

U.S. Rep. John Delaney visited the Hagerstown Regional Airport on Friday, taking time to speak with Washington County and airport officials about the possible affects that automatic federal spending cuts, known as sequestration, could have on the regional airport. Delaney, the U.S. representative for Maryland's 6th Congressional District, said the cuts could slash funding to the Federal Aviation Administration severely, potentially causing the closure of Hagerstown's air traffic control tower.