CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Passenger numbers are on the rise at West Virginia International Yeager Airport during this summer travel season, but that’s coming with long baggage claim wait times.
It was reported that in May, enplanement numbers at CRW had risen substantially, seeing over 20,000 passengers boarding aircraft.
Yeager Airport President and CEO Dominque Ranieri said they are happy to report that these numbers continue to look positive.
Dominque Ranieri
“Already we’re seeing our June numbers looking fantastic, we’ve had multiple days of over a thousand passengers traveling through the airport to get on aircraft,” Ranieri said.
She said these numbers are even up significantly from last summer.
Ranieri said she believes these heightened passenger numbers reflect the additional service they now offer through their newest entrant, Breeze Airways, as well as it just being a particularly busy summer travel season.
However, Ranieri said this also means that 20,000 passengers are unloading from the aircraft, and unfortunately, these additional numbers have brought much longer wait times at the baggage claim.
It was reported that on May 31, one passenger claimed they had waited a total of 49 minutes for their bags to get in.
Raneiri said these complaints are being heard and steps are being taken to mitigate the issue.
“We have heard our community, we have heard the complaints about how long it takes to receive your bags at the bag belt, we have the benefit of being a very compact facility, so we recognize that it takes a very short time for our passengers to reach the bag belt, but we still don’t want them waiting a long time for their bags,” she said.
During their monthly board meeting Wednesday, the Airport Authority met with the regional supervisors from two of their main airport carriers, one who oversees American Airlines and the other who oversees Delta and Breeze. They are responsible for ticketing, baggage-handling, and flight scheduling.
Ranieri said they will now be auditing and working with the providers to make sure they are meeting the metrics set by the specific airline to improve passenger experience at the airport.
“So, we called those supervisors in to address these issues with our board today, they have assured us they are working on staffing up at our airport to alleviate these issues, and they shared with us all of the policies that each individual air carrier expects regarding how long it should take to get your bag at the bag belt,” said Ranieri.
However, Ranieri said during such a busy season, passengers should expect at least a max wait time of 25 minutes to claim their bags. She said that’s why it’s always best for the passenger to be prepared.
“We always like to remind passengers, especially during the busy travel season to arrive early and check with their airlines regarding bag policies and check-in policies.”