Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • March 25, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Sean Teehan steeehan@hartfordbusiness.com I f Bradley International Airport is Alec Baldwin, the five re- gional airports overseen by the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA) are his less-famous broth- ers: They don't operate on the same level, but they're still making moves. "We do have development discus- sions underway at every airport that we own," said Kevin Dillon, CAA's exec- utive director. "Some are very advanced where there are signed term sheets, and there are others that are still in the discussion phase, but at each one of our airports we have some level of develop- ment that we're discussing." That development ranges from new airplane hangars at three or more CAA airports to the possibility of bringing commercial fights and developing a hotel at Groton-New London Airport. That's in addition to preliminary talks about CAA possibly taking some operational role at Tweed-New Haven Airport. Efforts to bring CAA's five smaller airports, which collectively recorded a $6.1 million operating loss in fiscal 2018, to their full potential are being informed by market research that's been done on the needs of individual and corporate travelers, Dillon said. All contribute to Dillon's vision for CAA as a statewide network of airports that compliment each other in terms of the services they provide, and are operated to their maximum capacity for aero- nautical and non-flight uses. "If you have one entity operating these significant facilities, you assure yourself of that coordination," Dillon said. Challenges and opportunities One of the biggest efforts underway is deciding the future of Tweed-New Haven Airport. Talks between CAA, Tweed's air- port authority and the city of New Haven are in their infancy, Dillon said. At the moment, the only agreed-upon principle is that activities at CAA airports and Tweed should be coordinated. But Dillon sees mutual benefits to some kind of operational partnership or acquisition. For starters, Tweed currently pays outside firms for engi- neering services CAA could provide for free if an agreement was reached. A merger would also better posi- tion Tweed and CAA to approach the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for grants, since only one entity (likely CAA) would be responsible for grant planning, Dillon said. However, not everybody is on board with a possible merger. Some high- ranking state legislators on both sides of the aisle — namely Democratic Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (who represents New Ha- ven) and and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) — have expressed skepticism, noting CAA and Tweed's competing interests. "The CAA is concerned with Bradley Airport, which wouldn't want competi- tion from Tweed," Looney recently told members of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce. Speaking to the New Haven Reg- ister, Fasano called the idea "fantasy land," and questioned why CAA would want to take over "another entity that doesn't make money." Public skepticism aside, the CAA/ Tweed talks dovetail with continued negotiations with AFCO AvPORTS Management LLC, the Dulles, Va.-based private operator of Tweed. For more than a year, CAA has been considering outsourcing operations management of three of its general aviation airports — Regional Development CT Airport Authority sees growth potential beyond Bradley International CT general aviation airports' FY 2018 operating results Operating revenues Operating expenses Landing fees $37,000 Salaries and related expenses $4.1M Airline terminal rent $11,000 Administrative and general $371,000 Aircraft parking $162,000 Repairs and maintenance $728,000 Rental cars $162,000 Energy $265,000 Terminal concessions $11,000 Equipment $90,000 Land rent $1.7M Depreciation $3.5M Other operating revenue $1M Total $3.1M Total $9.1M Operating loss: $6.1M Source: CT Airport Authority Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon says development discussions are underway at all CAA-run airports. PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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