Guest Blog: AirTran Delivers Nonstop Service Between MDT & FLL

Today we'd like the feature the first guest blog of it's kind. A few weeks ago we put out an invitation for our Facebook fans and Twitter followers to author a guest blog post. An avid & active fan and follower, Chris Stotz wrote the following customer testimonial post about his experience of flying AirTran Airways between MDT and FLL. Chris was born and raised near Harrisburg International airport in Central PA, but now lives in Fort Lauderdale.

I’m originally from central Pennsylvania but have been living in Fort Lauderdale since 2002. Finding a flight home to Harrisburg from either Fort Lauderdale or Miami airports always involved long and sometimes hectic connections in major airport hubs, usually resulting in about a six hour adventure between here and there. Last winter, the chaos of running through busy airports to make the connecting flight to/from Harrisburg became a thing of the past. While checking out updates on Harrisburg International Airport’s website (flyhia.com), I noticed the big announcement that I had been waiting eight years to see… AirTran would begin nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale and Harrisburg. I remember sending out a mass email to family and friends still living in central Pennsylvania because this was big news. What a treat! Not only was there nonstop service between Harrisburg and Fort Lauderdale, it was on AirTran. AirTran’s low fares, hassle-free customer service, newer Boeing jets, and available in-flight WiFi service make them one of the best values in the air today (and one of my preferred carriers). Suddenly, what often ends up being a six-hour ordeal getting to Harrisburg would now take about 2 hours, without the stress of having to make a connecting flight.

I’ve made several quick weekend trips to visit family in central Pennsylvania from Fort Lauderdale since the new seasonal, nonstop service began. If I had to think of one word to describe each AirTran experience between Fort Lauderdale and Harrisburg, it would be “smooth.” No issues, no delays, no worries. Each time I was dropped off at Harrisburg International Airport for my return flight to Fort Lauderdale, I browsed the retail options in the Harrisburg International Airport terminal like Perfectly Pennsylvania, grabbed my coffee at Starbucks (I can’t believe there is now a Starbucks inside the HIA terminal), and boarded my quick flight back to South Florida. Smooth! Why drive to large, crowded airports in Baltimore or Philadelphia when HIA has everything a traveler needs… including nonstop flights to popular destinations?

Fort Lauderdale, about 20 minutes north of Miami, is home to the second-largest cruise ship port in the United States. Winter days are balmy, usually around 80-degrees with little or no humidity. The beaches are lined with towering palm trees and the ocean water is warm and blue. With AirTran’s direct service from Harrisburg, Fort Lauderdale is now a quick, easy, and affordable getaway for people in central Pennsylvania looking to escape the harsh, cold winter, even for just a long weekend. With AirTran, you can get to Fort Lauderdale from Harrisburg faster than it takes you to drive to the mid-Atlantic beaches.

For me, the best part of the nonstop service between Harrisburg and Fort Lauderdale is somehow home doesn’t seem so far away anymore. See you in the air!

Have you flown nonstop on AirTran Airways to/from MDT? What's been your experience with those flights?

If you enjoyed reading Chris's post and would like to guest blog for fly HIA blog, please let us know. Send an email to info@saraa.org with your interest!