Penn State Football head coach James Franklin sat for his weekly press conference Monday afternoon ahead of Penn State’s second away game of the season against one of the new Big Ten schools, the USC Trojans. However, during the press conference, Franklin highlighted some of the issues that Penn State has faced in planning to play in Los Angeles as part of the new Big Ten schedule.
One of these complications that James Franklin noted is Penn State’s air travel.
Penn State’s Air Transportation Woes
James Franklin announced last week after practice Wednesday that Penn State would leave for Los Angeles on Thursday instead of the traditional Friday that Penn State would normally leave for an away conference game.
Franklin highlighted Monday that the reason behind the change in schedule is a result of Penn State being forced to fly out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, instead of State College, where the team is located.
Franklin noted that the change to Harrisburg was “based on runway length, size of plane, weight of plane, fuel of plane.”
Franklin on leaving Thursday for USC: Penn State cannot fly out of State College based on runway length and size of plane needed, etc. Penn State will fly out of Harrisburg. Franklin mentions needing State College to increase the runway size.
— Penn State FB Thoughts (@PSU_FB_Thoughts) October 7, 2024
With the two additional hours needed to bus the Penn State football team to Harrisburg for the flight instead of flying out of State College Regional Airport, Franklin noted that travel would essentially take an entire day for the team, requiring the change in schedule to fly on Thursday instead of the traditional Friday.
Franklin did reveal that it was possible for the team to fly out of State College to Los Angeles for the game, however, the fuel load and size of plane required to get the team to Los Angeles would require a stop to refuel because of State College Regional Airport’s small runway length.
Instead of stopping to refuel, Franklin and the team opted for the bus ride to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for a direct flight.
Franklin Suggests a Solution for Team Travel Woes
James Franklin took the opportunity during the press conference to advocate for a larger runway at State College Regional Airport.
Although it is the sixth busiest airport in Pennsylvania by yearly enplanements (with 267,000 passengers traveled through the airport in 2023), State College Regional Airport has only one runway, a 6,701 foot long runway.
While Harrisburg International Airport also only has one runway, the runway is a 10,001-foot long runway that is able to accommodate larger aircraft with higher fuel loads for longer, cross country trips.
Franklin noted in his press conference that to Franklin, “that’s one of the things we have to discuss is increasing the size of the runway here and the size of the airport.”
With the Big Ten expanding to the west coast, adding Washington, Oregon, USC, and UCLA for the 2024 season, Penn State’s athletic teams will be traveling out west with greater frequency.
Expanding the runway at State College Regional Airport to around the 10,000 foot length of Harrisburg International Airport would be in Penn State athletics’ best interest.
The additional capacity of the runway to handle larger planes with higher fuel loads for flights to the west coast would not only help Penn State’s athletic teams get to the new Big Ten schools without needing to refuel or bussing two hours to Harrisburg International Airport but would also open up a new market of fans to get to State College for Penn State athletic events. Penn State football could see a two-fold advantage to the airport size increase as well, with it being easier to bring recruits to campus as well with more flight availability for farther areas of the country.
For now, Penn State will make due with the shorter runway at State College Regional Airport by flying out of Harrisburg, but the logistics of Penn State traveling out west for matchups against the new Big Ten schools will be something to watch moving forward for Penn State fans.
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