Not everyone will be happy about the Altoona-Blair County Airport Authority’s decision to redirect its 30-passenger jet service to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, rather than continue the current service to Philadelphia International Airport.

Seldom is there a change that is in everyone’s best interests, but the newly announced change, which will take effect Oct. 1, seems like it will better serve most of the people who fly out of and into the Martinsburg facility.

That always must be the airport’s primary goal — to meet the needs of the would-be passengers. The coming change will be poised to do that — and generally provide beefed-up convenience as well.

At least some of the reasons why Charlotte-Douglas makes sense include:

– Most of the passengers departing from Blair County are heading south, so Philadelphia currently is an inconvenience from a directional standpoint.

– Charlotte-Douglas provides more connection alternatives. The North Carolina airport has nearly 700 American Airlines departures daily, as well as numerous departures on other domestic airlines. Philadelphia has just about 300 daily American Airlines departures.

– Under the revamped service, better flight schedules and better reliability will be possible, since the plane leaving Blair County will be based here. Under the current arrangement, the planes now serving Altoona-Blair County leave from Plattsburgh in northern New York destined for Philadelphia before heading west to the Blair airport. In wintertime, the realities of more delays and flight cancellations come into play.

– The North Carolina air facility is easier to navigate than the Philadelphia airport, according to Tracy Plessinger, local airport manager. That’s a plus for all passengers, especially nonfrequent flyers. Plessinger has said “Philadelphia hasn’t been the most popular destination we’ve ever had.”

– The contract for the new Charlotte-Douglas agreement will cover four years rather than two, on which the current arrangement is based, lowering the degree of uncertainty for passengers who might worry about the prospects for service upheavals not very far into the future.

– The early-morning-outbound and evening-return flights available under the newly directed service will provide more convenience for business travelers who do not need to remain at their destination for an additional day. By being able to return home the same day, they will not need to incur extra expenses such as for a hotel room and meals.

That available opportunity alone should help build passenger volume departing from here. The current to-Philadelphia service provides only middle-of-the-day flight opportunities that, for business travelers especially, are not a panacea.

The new contract, which will expire Sept. 30, 2028, is with the local airport’s current air carrier, Contour Airlines, and the new pact will be based on the federal Alternate Essential Air Service program under which the current contract is based.

It is important to note that flight service opportunities, just like rail service opportunities, survive when they are well supported by the community where they are based.

Always troubling are reports of lower traffic volume like June’s, when the 642 passengers out of and into Altoona-Blair County that month amounted to a 7% decrease from this May and a 1% decrease from June 2023.

Perhaps the new Blair-to-North Carolina service will resolve that.

For the airport’s long-term sake, county residents should hope so.