Arnold Palmer airport travelers advised to arrive early while President Trump stumps on Thursday

President Trump’s campaign stop Thursday evening at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport isn’t expected to create turbulence for the scheduled commercial flights.

Still, with the president’s 7 p.m. appearance expected to attract 2,000 or more people in his bid for reelection, those expecting to board an outbound Spirit Airlines flight are advised to “get there early,” said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, which operates the Unity airport.

“We have about 400 parking spaces blocked off for the event and the old runway for overflow,” Monzo said.

Spaces closest to the airport terminal will be reserved for Spirit passengers and for those patronizing DeNunzio’s Italian Chophouse restaurant, he said.

Doors open at 4 p.m. for the campaign event. Those who want to attend are asked to register on the Trump campaign website. The registration process includes a waiver indicating attendees are assuming all risks associated with potential exposure to the coronavirus at the event as well as releasing the Trump campaign and airport from any liability.

Airport authority Chairman Paul Puleo said he plans to arrive early for Trump’s appearance and hopes there will be a chance to discuss planned improvement of the Route 981 corridor south of the airport, a multiphase project seen as important for supporting motorists’ access to the airport.

“This airport is a gem,” Puleo said. “Every year, there is $230 million in economic benefit to the county because of the airport” — at least in nonpandemic years.

Rosina Albanese, a 27-year-old Republican Lower Burrell councilwoman, is scheduled to sing the National Anthem at Trump’s rally.

“I have sung at fundraisers and church and was not expecting something of this magnitude,” said Albanese, who also sang at the Hempfield Park amphitheater during the Westmoreland County Republican Committee re-organization meeting on Aug. 11.

Trump will speak in a hangar at L.J. Aviation, which offers aircraft management and charter services, Monzo said.

“That’s where we have the static displays for the air show,” he said.

Citing the inability to book a major aerial group, the authority canceled plans for its annual air show this year, well before the pandemic led to the same fate for most similar events.

Monzo said Trump is expected to arrive in a Boeing 757, a smaller craft than the Boeing 747 traditionally used as Air Force One, the president’s official plane. But “whatever aircraft the president is in at the time is Air Force One,” Monzo pointed out.

Trump isn’t the first president to stump at the Unity airport. Monzo recalled that then-President George W. Bush arrived by helicopter for a 2004 campaign rally.

That event was held outdoors, with bleachers for spectators set up on the runway ramp.

“They spent a couple days building a stage before he came,” Monzo said. “It went pretty smoothly.”

A Boeing 727 was performing duty as Air Force One when then-President Bill Clinton made a stop at the airport in 1994, Monzo said. Clinton then traveled to Greensburg for a rally advocating for health insurance reform.