Corning lands in Charlotte the week of expanding solar and AI fiber production

Corning flew from its home base at Elmira-Corning Regional Airport (KELM) to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (KCLT) on May 22, 2026, a 1-hour-28-minute hop aboard Bombardier Challenger 850 N28CG.

The same week, Corning reported first-quarter 2026 core sales of $4.35 billion — up 18% year over year — driven largely by its Optical Communications segment, which grew 36%, and a solar business that expanded 80% [nbaa.org](https://nbaa.org/news/business-aviation-insider/2023-09/corning-aviation-a-self-dispatch-operation/) [cdn.yahoofinance.com](https://cdn.yahoofinance.com/prod/sec-filings/0000024741/000002474126000198/glw-20260328xex991xq12026.htm). Charlotte hosts one of Corning’s five employee shuttle destinations, per the company's self-dispatch operation profile, ferrying staff to its manufacturing and R&D footprint in North Carolina.

This Charlotte leg is part of a busy May 22 pattern in which Corning operated at least seven flights, including shuttles to Morristown, New Jersey, and back. The company’s fleet of three Challenger 850s and three Falcon 900EX EASy jets logged 3,500 hours last year [nbaa.org](https://nbaa.org/news/business-aviation-insider/2023-09/corning-aviation-a-self-dispatch-operation/). For a materials-science firm scaling Gen AI fiber and solar wafer lines, a dedicated self-dispatched shuttle network — carrying more than 22,000 employees annually — is the quiet machinery behind a reported $4.6 billion quarterly sales target [cdn.yahoofinance.com](https://cdn.yahoofinance.com/prod/sec-filings/0000024741/000002474126000198/glw-20260328xex991xq12026.htm).