Washington, DC
By: Jim Kinney, The Springfield Republican
Published: July 13, 2010
(CHICOPEE) The taxiway and aircraft-parking apron Westover Metropolitan Airport is getting a $1.09 million makeover that should help the airport attract another airline.
“Airlines are looking for a reliable airport,” said Allan W. Blair, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts which runs the civilian side of the airport. “They want some place that is going to be safe and efficient for their needs, and there is starting to be more interest.”
Skybus stopped flying from Westover in March 2008 after bringing the first regularly-scheduled passenger service to the airport in more than 20 years to the airport in July 2007. The carrier was done in by a spike in fuel prices and subsequently filed for bankruptcy and went out of business.
“There is some stability in fuel prices now,” Blair said at a Monday news conference with U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, state Rep. Joseph F. Wagner, D-Chicopee, house chairman of the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation and Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette.
Even without scheduled service, Westover Metropolitan Airport handles 10,000 to 12,000 civilian takeoffs and landings a year, said Michael W. Bolton, director of civil aviation at Westover Metropolitan. That includes charter flights and corporate jets.
Westover is unique in the region because it has Transportation Security Administration screeners available for charter flights.
“This is about bringing in more and larger aircraft,” Bolton said.
By contrast, the adjacent Westover Air Reserve Base, home to the Air Reserve’s 439th Airlift Wing, marks about 40,000 operations a year, Bolton said.
Christopher J. Willenborg, administrator for the state Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division said funding for the project will come from three sources. The Federal Aviation Administration will provide $997,090 raised through aviation fuel taxes. The state is providing $59,572 in transportation bond act money and the Westover Economic Development Corp. is providing $34,573.
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