Sunday, November 05, 2017

Future looking brighter for investment in Stewart International Airport (KSWF)

When the Port Authority’s buff and blue bi-state flag was hoisted on the pole opposite the terminal at Stewart International Airport 10 years ago, Lou Heimbach watched it flutter into place and observed:

“They’re as good as it gets for us.″

Ten years later, the former Orange County executive whose advocacy for the airport dates to 1958, when he was briefly stationed at the then-Air Force Base, and who has witnessed every change since in Stewart’s ownership, is still of the same opinion.

“There’s absolutely no doubt it was the smart decision,″ said Heimbach, now chairman of the Stewart Airport Commission. “And there’s no doubt it has disappointed every one of us that the level of domestic service, the number of flights and destinations, hasn’t increased.”

Nancy Gillmeier, owner of World Wide Travel in Cornwall, said clients routinely tell her Stewart is their first choice – and then bemoan their inability to make it so.

“People are loving Norwegian, the buzz is very positive, and it’s easy to connect to mainland Europe from Dublin,″ said Gillmeier. “But what about Cancun, which is our No. 1 seller, or Aruba and the Bahamas? And in the United States, what about the big cities?”

Added frequent flier Jean Rudy of Scotchtown: “We expected a lot from the Port Authority. We love Stewart. We’ve used it every time we could since back when all we had was American Airlines. It’s been sad to see the number of flights and destinations diminished.”

The first 10 years have been a bumpy ride for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and for Stewart’s boosters. The recession, volatile fuel prices and airline bankruptcies and consolidations have thwarted a succession of aviation directors and general managers.

Only now, with the advent of the New York Air Show, Norwegian Air’s service to Europe, Allegiant’s addition of flights to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and two new destinations in Florida, does Stewart appear poised to grow passenger service.

“The decision to invest in Stewart was fundamentally a decision about the future, about planning not just for the next business cycle, but for the next century,″ said Tony Coscia, the former Port Authority chairman who negotiated the acquisition of the airport’s lease.

He pointed out the congestion at the Big 3 airports that prompted the Port Authority to seek additional capacity hasn’t gone away and isn’t going away, and predicted Stewart will realize its potential over time.

“It has two long runways, great highway access and close proximity to the largest origin and destination market in the world,″ said Coscia, now the chairman of Amtrak. “For the Port or any institution to start from scratch, to replicate that size, access and location in today’s regulatory and land-use environment, would be overwhelming. It wouldn’t happen.”

The Regional Plan Association’s fourth plan, which will be released Nov. 30, forecasts the Hudson Valley’s population will continue to grow as more people move beyond the metropolitan region, first to second homes and then to telecommuting.

“The demographic changes will benefit Stewart in the long run,″ said Rich Barone, senior vice president for transportation at RPA. “Stewart isn’t going to be comparable to the Big 3 – it would be a huge, huge lift financially - but it’s going to be a lot more than what it is today. And it still will require continued investment, particularly in the terminal and the gates, which will be operating on the edge, at one million passengers a year.”

Huntley Lawrence, the Port Authority’s aviation director, and Ed Harrison, the general manager at Stewart, think a steady one million a year, a level the airport hasn’t approached since 2007, is within reach before the next 10 years pass.

“Air service development is an art and a science,″ said Lawrence. “You’ve got to have the right people to make the right business case to the airlines. You have to pitch to their business plan.”

The two men said the Stewart-specific incentive program that temporarily cuts fees and charges was designed in deference to the different competitive market among airlines most likely to consider smaller and non-hub airports.

“Their decisions are based on their ability to make money, and airport costs alone can make the difference in that equation,″ said Lawrence.

At the same time, the aviation division is monitoring what airlines are doing with their planes and their routes – and with their orders for new planes – to divine their future plans. Norwegian’s application to the U.S. Department of Transportation to increase its flights as well as its orders for Boeing’s new 737 MAX planes, for example, became part of the multi-year effort to woo the airline to Stewart.

“We’re not selling cornflakes here, we’re not doing mass marketing,″ said Harrison. “We’re making very targeted and very personal approaches to airlines that we believe want easy, low-cost access to the New York market.”

The unexpected opportunity to host the New York Air Show, and Orange County’s willingness to participate in the logistics, has become yet another marketing tool.

“It was a somewhat risky move - we’re not in the air show business - but it was the right time,″ said Lawrence. “It keeps us connected to the community, and it lets airlines give us a sort of test ride, see what we can do here.”

At the same time, the Port Authority has sought to draw new businesses and new jobs to the airport, independent of new passenger service.

DHL has rejoined UPS and FedEx, making Stewart the only airport in the country where the world’s three dominant freight carriers have operations. And Signature, the world’s largest fixed-base operator, has joined Atlantic Aviation, the country’s largest.

But Lawrence knows that what the Lou Heimbachs, Nancy Gillmeiers and Jean Rudys want is more and better air service, and he believes it is in the offing:

“There’s more,″ he said. ” Just stay tuned. We fully expect new carriers and more destinations from existing carriers.”

Stewart as fixer-upper

The Port Authority originally envisioned pouring $500 million into Stewart Airport improvements, only to scale back the plan when the recession squeezed its revenues and competing projects edged out an airport where passenger and cargo volumes were declining.

To date, however, the Port Authority has invested $176 million to bring Stewart's basic facilities to modern aviation standards, including:

— $79.3 million to rehabilitate and repave the airport's two runways, the 11,817-foot Runway 9-27 and the 6,004-foot Runway 16-34, a combined 3.4 miles, and some taxiways

— $20.9 million to replace the weather instrumentation power circuit and the runway weather information system

— $18.6 million to upgrade taxiway and approach lighting systems

— $18.3 million to create a perimeter road so fuel trucks and other vehicles can reach aircraft without crossing an active runway

— $12.6 million to realign Stewart Boulevard, build a long-term parking lot and rehabilitate other roads and parking lots

— $9.4 million to build the Mid-Hudson Regional Crime Laboratory, part of an agreement to keep the State Police at the airport

— $4.5 million to replace the roofs on the terminal and four other buildings

Original article can be found here ➤ http://www.recordonline.com

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