I'm thinking of flying ord-mdt return late Nov. '13. usually I fly into phl and drive from there to marietta.

Would like to land somewhere closer to Marietta without the drive. Driving on the opp. side of road I'm used to can be a bit stressful at times.

If the weather is a bit rainy, etc., does this effect getting into and out of airport?

I favour the larger airports in case of weather, etc. I flew into Vermont one year and was told the small a/port closer to Rutledge if weather not good, the airline didn't fly there. This is why I'm asking my ?. I'd love to avoid the drive from philly or train trip.

TIA

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I've never flown into or out of MDT, but it appears to be a well-equipped airport: a 10,000-foot runway, with an instrument landing system at each end.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KMDT

I would feel comfortable booking a flight into or out of there.

MDT is our home airport. I wouldn't worry about weather issues, as Mr. Kipper has flown out of there in rain and/or fog, and sleet without a delay.

MDT is a pretty reliable airport, you have to be more worried about the weather at the departure airport.

If worst comes to worst just fly into PHL then you can take the train to Lancaster or Middletown then head to Marietta


Dave

Problems with taking the train from PHL to Lancaster or Middletown:

1. Obtaining a rental car
2. Trains often run late

Harrisburg is our state capital - I wouldn't be concerned about flying in/out of there. It would have to be a major winter weather event for MDT to have issues, in which case IAD is likely to be having issues also.

We do most of our flying out of MDT. Never found weather to be an issue any more than other airports. My only annoyance is that sometimes the evening connections from PHL are late due to delays in PHL.

Did a bit of research to hopefully ease your mind.

Rutland is serviced by Cape Air, with an unpressurized Cessna 402. When the weather gets bad, this aircraft cannot climb above it. It also has a relatively short runway.

Harrisburg has a runway usable by full size jets (G4 flies MD80 aircraft into MDT) that is usable even in the sloppiest of weather (CAT III). The type of weather that would shut MDT down - well, I would be content to stay on the ground if it got that crappy out.

Wouldn't be much point in taking the train to Middletown to get to Marietta, as that would require a good bit of backtracking. In Lancaster, Hertz and Enterprise both have locations nearby and will pick you up at the train station. Only problem is that both are basically open during "business hours" only and not at all on Sunday.

As far as trains often running late, the Keystone is a very reliable short-haul corridor. It's rare IME for a train to be than 10 minutes late from Philly to Lancaster.

All that said, I think the OP's easiest option is simply to fly into MDT and rent a car. It's an easy 20-mile drive on basically the same state highway the entire way.

[If OP really wants to get to Marietta w/o driving, there is a transit bus that runs from Lancaster to Marietta, but that would probably be more hassle than it's worth.]

OP is coming from ORD. ORD is much more likely to have weather or air traffic issues than MDT is (or even IAD, for that matter). And in that event, Eagle flights in and out of ORD would generally be more prone to cancellations / delays than mainline. Unfortunately, I believe the only AA flights these days at MDT are Eagle flights through ORD.

But I concur with others about MDT. I used to be based out of there - nice little airport, easy to get in and out of, can generally park and be through security and at the gate in five minutes, and very rare to have weather issues at the MDT end of a flight.

UA and US fly A319s and A320s into MDT pretty much every day, Delta usually runs an MD80 in the summer and Air Force 1 uses MDT for touch and go's on a regular basis.