The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport soon will offer a unique way to connect to flights out of Philadelphia’s airport.
Instead of hopping on a regional jet for a short flight, air travelers will board an American Airlines luxury bus operated by a company called Landline.
Landline vice president/head of revenue Nick Johnson said Tuesday the bus substitutes for connecting jets, which are more expensive to operate.
“What we do is we take a 56-seat, passenger bus, take off about half the seats, and give all of that space in terms of legroom and seating back to customers,” Johnson said. “Every seat on board is like a first-class seat on a regional jet.”
The buses will have the usual restroom and Wi-Fi, too.
Flights to Philadelphia take less than an hour, and the bus is scheduled to take at least two hours and 20 minutes. But the local airport hasn’t had connecting flights to Philadelphia since May 2020, said Eric McKitish, airport director of marketing, communications and air service development.
Not to mention, if you drive yourself, you must pay for gas and parking.
“It actually doesn't take that much longer to take a motorcoach compared to a flight, when you account for the taxi time and sometimes circling around the hubs and stuff like that,” Johnson said.
The bus cost is built into the flight’s cost when a passenger books. A passenger will go through the airport security check here and get off the bus in Philly still cleared for the flight. Baggage gets checked at the local airport and transferred to the flight.
“You close your eyes, you might as well be on a jet. Because you're getting frequent flyer miles. Your itinerary is protected,” he said.
If a traffic accident causes a passenger to miss a flight, American will make good, same as in weather delays, he said.
The buses will start running Aug. 6, four times a day in each direction.
“The great thing is that this is a new service that's going to be added at new times of day,” he said.
Buses will leave for Philadelphia at 7:20 a.m., 10:20 a.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. They will leave from Philadelphia at 10:40 a.m., 1:35 p.m., 6:35 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.
Landline started back in 2019 “with the vision of using the economics and the convenience of motor coach transportation to solve a gap in service into small and midsize communities,” Johnson said.
Often, airlines can’t afford to operate jets from regional airports to larger hubs such as Philadelphia, New York, Charlotte, Chicago and many others. For several years now, airlines have also had trouble finding enough pilots for short-trip, regional jets.
Landline created a partnership with American Airlines in 2022 and others across North America, including from two cities in Canada to Toronto’s airport.
The company targets flight routes of fewer than 150 miles where “it doesn't necessarily make sense to fly planes into and out of major hubs,” Johnson said.
American already offers the service to Philadelphia from Allentown and Atlantic City.
