Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/992084
96 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 2018 2018 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 96 Taking Flight Barry Pallanck touts the benefits of the busy, if lesser known, Hartford-Brainard Airport By Cara Rosner Business travelers who want to get to get their destinations quickly and relatively hassle-free have an option just three miles from Hartford's downtown business district: Hartford-Brainard Airport. It often doesn't get as much publicity as its larger neighbor to the north, Bradley International Airport, but each year, 42,000 to 50,000 flights depart from or arrive at Hartford-Brainard, according to Barry Pallanck, director of general aviation airports for the Connecticut Airport Authority. About 60 percent of that traffic comes from business travelers, who appreciate the ease and proximity of the airport, he said. "It expedites their day," Pallanck said, noting that traveling out of and into commercial carrier airports can take most of a businessperson's day, between getting there and dealing with security protocols and other factors. A chartered flight out of Hartford-Brainard offers a more streamlined experience, he added. Local insurance companies, ESPN and United Technologies Co. are among the businesses that use the airport regularly, he said. Local hospitals also use its helipad for LifeStar transports. Hartford-Brainard is a public-use, publicly owned airport on 201 acres. It has one seasonal 2,350-foot-long turf runway and two asphalt runways measuring 4,400 and 2,300 feet. It also has a taxiway system, aircraft parking aprons, an air-traffic control tower and other infrastructure. The site – a former cow pasture chosen in 1921 to house the airport – has a long history. It has been called the country's first municipal airport and was named for Hartford Mayor Newton C. Brainard, who held the office from 1920 to 1922. Hartford-Brainard is one of five general aviation airports Pallanck oversees in his role at the airport authority. The others are Waterbury-Oxford, Groton-New London, Windham and Danielson. He has held his current job since 2013, serving in various posts at the airport authority and at the state Department of Transportation for decades. In 2013, ownership of Harford and the state's other airports was transferred from DOT to the Connecticut Airport Authority, a quasi-public agency started in 2011. Hartford-Brainard is home to two flight schools: Premier Flight Center, where graduates can obtain a pilot's license, and ATP Flight School, which offers advanced pilot training. "They do very well," Pallanck said of the schools. "They have a very good clientele." The schools and, by extension, the airport, play a vital role in training the future workforce, he said. Airport and school officials do a lot of outreach to Hartford area youth, urging them to consider careers as pilots. "They provide the pilots of the future," Pallanck said of the flight schools. "There's a big pilot shortage; they're in high demand. If we don't have the younger people coming into the system, we're going to be in real trouble for pilots." PROFILE An ATP Flight School aircraft parked at Hartford-Brainard Airport. " " "They do very well," Pallanck said of the flight schools. "They have a very good clientele." - Barry Pallanck [Photo courtesy of Hartford Jet Center]