Times of Trenton Letter to the Editor - May 2
Mercer Airport ready to take off
If the crowded parking lot at the Trenton-Mercer Airport is any indication, the arrival of Frontier Airlines and its many popular destinations are a runaway success.
While Mercer County has certainly been burned, over the years, with a number of marginal carriers coming and going out of West Trenton, the public seems to have finally signaled its desire to avoid flying out of Newark and Philadelphia.
Interestingly, looking at the airlines that have long anchored the larger hubs, Continental is gone, with parent United ranking at the bottom of customer satisfaction lists, and I wouldn’t place a big bet on American Airlines once it deals with the pains of taking over U.S. Airways in Philadelphia. It’s only getting worse at the bigger airports with their megacarriers.
Frontier has had its financial problems, and two investment firms are currently in talks to acquire Frontier from parent Republic Airways Holdings. Whether Frontier is still here in five years is anyone’s guess, but some airline will see the opportunity of flying out of Trenton Mercer, and that is why there shouldn’t be any further delay in getting a new terminal built (“Improvement projects put on hold at Trenton-Mercer Airport,” April 24).
Bringing in a private developer is an option. (A Dutch firm manages the new Delta Terminal 4 at JFK.) The recently reported $450,000 loan by Frontier to the county for airport improvements is a temporary fix, at best. Now is the time for bold leadership by Mercer County officials.
-- Gary Smotrich,
Hopewell Township
Source: http://www.nj.com
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