Erie International Airport


Erie International Airport Tom Ridge Field is a public airport southwest of Erie, in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Airline service at Erie faces stiff competition from the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Toronto airports, all within three hours of Erie by car. In 2004, Erie was the third-fastest-growing airport in the United States, and the fastest-growing airport in Pennsylvania. It is from Pittsburgh, from the Canada–U.S. border, from Cleveland, Ohio and from Buffalo, New York.
The airport is named for former Pennsylvania governor, former Secretary of United States Secretary of Homeland Security, and Erie native Tom Ridge.
WWW Official Site

History

History

In 1924, Roger Griswold purchased of land west of Erie at the intersection of West Lake and Asbury Roads for use as an airfield. Soon after, a flight training school was based at the field. In 1927, as part of a nationwide tour by Charles Lindbergh after his transatlantic flight, Erie was selected as one of the cities where Lindbergh would make a brief stopover. Griswold Field proved inadequate for the larger Spirit of St. Louis and an alternative site could not be located, so a flyover by Lindbergh had to suffice.
This showed the need for a proper airport and prompted the Erie City Council to consider establishing a municipal airport. City Council was, initially, favoring a site east of Wesleyville for a municipal airport, but Lieutenant Jimmy Doolittle commented on the distance between it and the city; Doolittle noted that "you might as well take 40 minutes more and go on to Cleveland." After recommendations made by Lindbergh to a Congressional committee that no airport less than be approved, the planning commission for Erie's airport began to reevaluate the site.
Griswold Field officially closed in 1929 when Griswold moved to Long Island, but aircraft and the flight school continued to use it. That year two airfields were established: one on land next to the former Griswold Field, and another in Kearsarge that is now the site of the Millcreek Mall.
American Airlines began the airport's airline service June 15, 1938; American remained until 1953 when Allegheny replaced it. Pennsylvania-Central Airlines began service July 5, 1940. Mohawk arrived on December 1, 1956 and Lake Central on January 1, 1957; Capital Airlines flights ended in January 1961.
Prior to September 11, 2001, the airport was at its height with US Airways mainline jets to Pittsburgh and international service to Toronto. After 9/11 US Airways replaced 737s and DC-9s with regional jets. As air service rebounded in the mid-2000s, US Airways Express flew to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Charlotte; Northwest Airlink to Detroit; Continental Connection to Cleveland; and Delta Connection to Cincinnati and Atlanta. US Airways discontinued Charlotte flights in 2006. Delta Air Lines discontinued Atlanta flights on September 6, 2007. In early 2008 US Airways discontinued Pittsburgh flights.
On August 22, 2018, Derek Martin was named Executive Director of the airport.
On February 24, 2020, non-stop service to Washington Dulles International Airport on United Express was announced. The service was made possible by a $292,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Program.
On June 5, 2020, Delta announced that it would indefinitely suspend service starting July 8 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Current operations

As of December 2025, Delta has suspended all operations at ERI.
American Eagle offers three times daily service onboard ERJ-145 aircraft operated by Piedmont Airlines to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Breeze Airways offers twice weekly service to Orlando, Florida and twice weekly seasonal flights to Tampa, Florida.
American Eagle will begin once daily service to Chicago in May 2026 onboard Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft operated by PSA Airlines.
United Airlines will return to Erie in June 2026 will three daily flights to Chicago onboard CRJ-550 aircraft operated by SkyWest Airlines.

Runway extension

The extension of runway 6/24 was opened on November 8, 2012. The total cost of the project was $80.5 million, or approximately $5 million under budget. Owing to a mild winter in 2011-2012 that did not hinder construction work, the extension was also completed two years ahead of schedule.

Facilities

Erie International/Tom Ridge Field covers and has two runways:
  • Runway 2/20:, surface: asphalt
  • Runway 6/24:, surface: asphalt/concrete
The airport has a passenger terminal building that opened in 1958 and has had several expansions and upgrades since its construction. The 1970s saw expansions to baggage claim facilities and later an office expansion for FAA office facilities on the second floor. A ticketing area on the western end of the terminal building was added in 1990. Upgrades to the lobby area and boarding gates and passenger boarding bridges followed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The first floor of the passenger terminal building, which houses the baggage claim, check in desks, rental car counters, cafe, TSA checkpoint, and boarding gate areas occupies approximately 43,200 square feet.
In August 2019, the public waiting area and in-terminal restaurant were renovated. The entrance to the restaurant was reconfigured to provide airside access from the secure side of the terminal.
The terminal has seven gates, four with jetbridges for regional aircraft. Gate 5 was previously used by Delta Connection, and gates 1 and 3 were previously used by United Express, but both services have been suspended. Current regularly occupied gates are:

Airlines and destinations

Image:Lastdc9ERI.jpg|thumb|The last McDonnell Douglas DC-9 to fly for USAir arriving at Erie International Airport

Ground transportation

Bus

The Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority's Route 31 includes a stop at the airport.

Car rental

Avis Rent a Car System, Budget Rent a Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, The Hertz Corporation, and National Car Rental have counters at the airport.

Shuttle/limousine

Various local hotels, along with the locally owned Hansen's Errand Service and Rupp Limousine, provide shuttle services to and from the airport.

Rideshare

Local drivers for Uber and Lyft provide ridesharing services to and from the airport and throughout the Erie area.

Accidents and incidents

  • On February 21, 1986, USAir Flight 499, a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31, aircraft registration N961VJ, overran the runway after the pilots broke off an approach to runway 6 due to poor visibility and landed in the opposite direction on runway 24 due to more favorable visibility minimums, despite a resulting tailwind. One passenger suffered minor injuries, while the other 17 passengers and 5 crew were uninjured. The aircraft was badly damaged and was written off. Challenging weather conditions were a factor; it was snowing and foggy, and snow covered the runway. The accident was attributed to poor judgment by the pilots; tailwind landings on runway 24 were not authorized in slippery conditions, but the pilots disregarded the prohibition, touched down past the normal landing zone at an excessive airspeed rather than performing a go-around, and failed to promptly deploy the spoilers manually, a standard DC-9 precautionary procedure on a slippery runway where the nosewheel may not spin up quickly enough to trigger the automatic spoiler system to slow the aircraft.
  • June 8, 2000: A Beechcraft BE-55 Baron, registration number N777K, lost engine power on approach after the pilot realized the left-hand tank was empty and attempted to cross-feed the left-hand engine from the right-hand fuel tank. The aircraft was destroyed in the subsequent crash and post-crash fire; the pilot, who was the sole aircraft occupant, suffered minor injuries. The accident was attributed to fuel starvation caused by fuel system mismanagement and inadequate preflight planning.
  • August 13, 2005: A Piper PA-28-180, registration number N7534W, lost engine power on approach and struck trees during an attempted forced landing about short of runway 24, killing the pilot and two passengers; another passenger suffered serious injuries. The accident was attributed to fuel starvation caused by inadequate preflight planning.