CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia International Yeager Airport has not had to operate without an abundance the federal workers on its staff, despite them now working without paychecks.
The government shutdown has now lasted over three full weeks, and while some airports around the country are suffering due to federal workers calling off, West Virginia’s largest airport is running smoothly.
CRW chief marketing officer Paige Withrow says the federal workers at the airport are outstanding.
“If you fly often, you’ll hear that we have some of the nicest TSA workers in the nation. We are very fortunate that they are continuing to show up, and our air traffic controllers are continuing to show up and keep our passengers safe,” Withrow said after CRW’s monthly board meeting Wednesday.
CRW has roughly 100 federal workers between TSA and FAA employees, as well as a customer’s officer.
Withrow says community partners have been trying to chip in where they can.
“We are fortunate to have wonderful federal workers here at this airport that are continuing to show up for work, but also great community members as well that are reaching out to help,” she said. “We’ve had several of our community members reach out to us to see if they could provide lunch for these federal workers and we hope we continue to see that.”
Withrow also said Wednesday that CRW is not experiencing any delays in projects due to the shutdown like North Central West Virginia Airport in Clarksburg is. Funding is also secured, so the airport’s $8 million pre-security terminal project and other projects around the facility have not been affected. The pre-security terminal project is slated to begin in the next couple of weeks.