Winston-Salem is served by two airports. Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO), 25 minutes from downtown, offers scheduled service by major air carriers including AirTran Airways, American Airlines, Comair, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Independence Air, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways and US Airways Express. Smith Reynolds Airport, located in Winston-Salem, is available for charters and general aviation.
Small airports are by necessity more expensive and harder to find flights into.
A search on Orbitz revealed that a trip on the same days from Washington, DC to the area was $370 to Greensboro and
$190 to Raleigh. It's my guess that the same flight would be almost twice as much into the smaller airport of Winston-Salem (PTI), but it was impossible to find a flight into PTI for those sample days (2/10-2/12). The only exception is if you use airline miles. That can be the cheapest way to get into a small airport.