"I was informed Monday that UPS will have one plane here on a daily basis for the next 12 months," said airport manager Terry Moore.
United Parcel Service will have a plane at the airport dropping off and leaving with packages and letters from around the world every Tuesday through Friday through mid- January 2011.
"UPS is now, officially, serving Parkersburg and the rest of the Mid-Ohio Valley by air daily," Moore said.
Air service by the delivery agency means that items sent through it will have a faster delivery time because they will not need to be driven by truck to Yeager Airport in Charleston for flight.
"For the (local) community, there is an advantage to UPS having a plane servicing the area on a daily basis," Moore said.
Telephone messages left at the UPS Atlanta media office were not returned Monday and Tuesday, but Moore said he was told by a UPS representative the company chose to move a plane to the Mid-Ohio Valley because of the amount of fog in Charleston.
"A UPS representative came to talk to me (Monday) and said that the dense morning fog made it difficult for them to have the early morning arrival at Yeager, which led, in part, to their decision to come here," Moore said.
Unfortunately, in a twist of fate, the service's arrival at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, the first day of the service, was delayed until the afternoon due to fog.
"It was ironic because fog was one of the main reasons they came up here," Moore said. "We usually don't have that much trouble with fog outside of spring and fall, so it was just strange."
The plane will not be staying at the airport overnight, but will arrive daily around 6:15 a.m. and leave each afternoon.
While it is not a large contract, Moore said every little bit helps the airport's struggling finances.
"The airport can expect about $1,000 per month in landing fees and there is a potential for more money if the pilots for UPS need cargo handling," he said.
Cargo handling will be decided on by the pilots and the pilots will also choose who does the labor, which means those performing the work may or may not be airport employees.
"Cargo handling will likely be on a case-by-case basis, but it does allow the airport the possibility of receiving some extra revenue," Moore said.
Although UPS may not bring the airport a large windfall, Moore said he and the airport are more than grateful for the opportunity to serve the company.
"Any increase in traffic is good," he said. "The fact that it is business traffic is even better because when the plane goes out of the area, the pilot will talk to people and get the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport's name out.
"We won't just be a dot on the map; we will become a dot with a name."
UPS has had daily service at the airport during the Christmas season for years and now joins competitors Federal Express (FedEx) with daily usage of the local airport. FedEx has had a plane at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport for many years.
UPS delivers more than 15 million packages a day to roughly 6.1 million customers in 200 countries, which makes it the world's largest package delivery company, according to the UPS Web site (www.ups.com).
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