“It’s a busy day!” Vero Beach Airport Director Todd Scher exclaimed last week minutes after officiating at the ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome the first American Airlines fight to the city, an event that increased to three the number of commercial airlines now serving our community.
That exclamation by Scher was a serious understatement.
When the small CR9-Canadair commuter jet touched down at Vero Beach Regional Airport at 11:21 a.m. last Thursday with 61 passengers aboard from Charlotte, N.C., a few minutes ahead of its scheduled 11:30 a.m. arrival time, it ran into some congestion. The plane was held up at the end of the runway for a few minutes to give a Breeze Airways Airbus jet bound for Hartford, Conn., time to get out of the way and cede the prime parking spot at the small terminal.
While the American Eagle plane – it belonged to the fleet of the American Airlines feeder planes operated by American’s wholly-owned subsidiary, PSA Airlines – sat on the ground, letting its 61 passengers deplane and loading its 46 passengers back on for the outbound flight back to Charlotte, a much bigger Airbus jet from JetBlue arrived from Boston’s Logan Airport, and parked next to it. The small airport can handle only two airliners at the same time.
Actually, the next arrival at Vero Beach was supposed to have been JetBlue’s flight from JFK airport in New York City, but that flight had been held up because of weather delays in the New York area, so the two JetBlue flights flip-flopped in order of arrival and departure. With typical travel delays, it’s entirely feasible that three different jets will be on the ground here at the same time and one of them would have to wait before offloading its sunshine seeking passengers.
The delayed JetBlue flight departing back to JFK had barely closed its door when Breeze’s next flight was arriving, a little ahead of schedule just before 3 p.m. from Islip on Long Island.
Breeze has been flying out of Vero Beach to various Northeast destinations since 2023 and is about to add another flight in a couple of months to Raleigh-Durham International. JetBlue joined the fray last December, competing for the hot Vero Beach market with its JFK and Boston flights. None of the three airlines shows any sign of preparing to reduce flights or leave Vero Beach.
The small Vero Beach Regional Airport, which is undergoing a modest $5 million expansion project that is supposed to be finished this summer, now handles more commercial traffic than the much larger Melbourne International Airport about 50 minutes to the north. Melbourne services seven daily flights by two airlines, Delta to Atlanta and American to Charlotte, while Vero Beach on Thursdays and Sundays now has eight total flights – five by Breeze, two by JetBlue and one by American.
The three competing airlines share a cramped space in the small terminal building where agents work almost shoulder-to-shoulder checking in passengers for their respective departing flights, often within an hour of each other.
On top of all that commercial airline traffic, the airport handles more than 330,000 yearly takeoffs and landings by private aircraft handled though the Vero Beach general aviation terminal.
“This is a milestone in the history of the Vero Beach airport,” Scher said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first American Airlines flight. “But I keep getting one question – How are we doing all of this and how does this affect the airport?”
Scher said that the current airport reconstruction project will provide passengers “with a more comfortable travel experience, even while we maintain our small-town feel.”
Vero Beach Mayor John Cotugno said American Airlines’ arrival “recognizes that Vero Beach is a special place” with its many attractions such as great beaches, fine restaurants and first-rate cultural amenities like Riverside Theatre and Vero Beach Museum of Art.
Cotugno also said the new route to American Airlines’ major hub in Charlotte provides Vero Beach residents with an important gateway to all points in the U.S., including the West Coast, as well as overseas destinations.
American Airlines’ James Seadler, the company’s corporate real estate manager who oversees the airline’s regional stations in Florida from Key West to Pensacola, said Vero Beach is an “exciting addition to our network for business as well as leisure travelers.”
The ceremony was also attended by Indian River County Commissioner Joe Earman and Vero Beach City Manager Monte Falls, Police Chief David Currey, Vice Mayor Linda Moore and councilmembers Aaron Vos and John Carroll.
Carroll, too, highlighted the importance to Vero Beach residents of the addition of the American Airlines connection to Charlotte, its second biggest hub after Dallas-Fort Worth, since American serves 170 major cities in 26 countries out of Charlotte.
“Just last week I was looking for flights to Europe,” Carroll said. “Up to now, I’d always have to go to Orlando or Miami to go to Europe. Now I can just get on a plane here a few minutes from my house. It’ll save me so much time.”
Moore noted all the growth at the airport will present the city with new challenges, such as how to organize parking, which so far has been free, although the city is considering proposals for installing paid parking facilities.
Basic fares on American Eagle for the new flights from Vero Beach to Charlotte start at $125 but may be considerably higher for specific flights, depending on demand. The commuter jets serving the route have a capacity of between 76 and 90 passengers and the inaugural flight southbound was “just about full” with 61 people on board, a station manager said.
Breeze has flown out of Vero Beach since 2023 with point-to-point service to several destinations, including Islip on Long Island, Westchester County north of New York City and Stewart Field northwest of the city in Newburgh, N.Y. Breeze also serves Hartford and Providence, R.I., in New England, as well as Washington-Dulles in Virginia and Ogdensburg in upstate New York.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
