another airport that may go down (BDR)

I doubt that the decision was based solely on thumbing the CT
representatives in the eye but it certainly would look like that I think.

Bridgeport has no real economy, they knocked down a long-defunct
manufacturing plant to build a baseball field and indoor arena and then
knocked down some projects to make carparks for them.

There are hardly any manufacturing jobs in Bridgeport anymore and those
that are left are either small-time specialty shops or are shipping
their work overseas.

There are acres and acres of prime waterfront available in Bridgeport,
which incidentally is a pretty good deep water port. What was the
latest great idea for the area? A friggin casinio. forward thinkers
they are NOT.

And do I think the airport will be there in 5 years? Yes, I think it
will be. This proposal will go the way of the last one (to build a
casino on the airport property)...

Robert

H.P. wrote:

The decision on the Prez' chopper was undoubtedly a thumb in the eye payback
to the rabid anti-Bush Democrats that dominate CT national politics in the
region, in particular Dodd, Lieberman and DeLauro (3rd Congressional
District). Now these clowns are all in a dither to try to explain the
decision, blaming it on everybody except themselves. The contract value was
not all that big for Sikosky, but the symbolism...its the first time the
Prez will be flying around in a non-Sikorsky chopper.

No way that Bridgeport will close BDR down, if for no other reason than to
tweak Stratford's nose. But it'll be the final nail in Bridgeport's economic
coffin if they do.

The airport is woefully underutilized. If the region had some decent
corporate activity, that place would be buzzing busy, just as it was as
late as the mid-eighties when it had scheduled regionals.

I read a while ago that Bob Crandall was considering basing his new air taxi
operation, POGO, at BDR.




"Robert Chambers" wrote in message
. com...

I'm based at BDR and there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye.

The airport is actually in the town of Stratford but the city of
Bridgeport owns it. Stratford wanted some tax money for it as it is quite
a few acres of property. Bridgeport said "we are a municipal
organization, we don't have to pay property taxes" so Stratford took them
to court and the court sided with Bridgeport so it's been a ****ing match
ever since.

What Stratford doesn't realize is that Bridgeport is not going to be
handing back to the FAA any grant money, they don't have it to spare.

Bridgeport has lost pretty much all the manufacturing jobs it ever had,
there are factory buildings and warehouses standing empty and loads of
vacant space waiting for people to build something on it. There's no
demand for space in the Bridgeport area. Transportation is a disaster
here with I-95 choked with traffic and construction. Labor costs are high
and Connecticut has a pretty business-unfriendly unemployment-insurance
setup compared to other states. Most of the manufacturing jobs have gone
out of the country or down south. Hell, even the presidential helicopter
got awarded to Lockheed who are in bed with some overseas outfits (who
will wind up making parts for it).

The Urban Land Institute aparrently looked at the land and came up with
this proposal pretty quickly so you know how much thought went into it.

Across the street from the airport is the old Avco-lycoming factory where
until 6 or so years ago they built the turbine engines for the tanks.
That whole property except for a few small companies is sitting empty and
idle. There's no demand for manufacturing space.

This is just a politicians way to try and make some brownie points with
the constituents. They figure that the voters in town would rather have a
bunch of warehouses and tractor-trailers in their neighborhoods instead of
the few aircraft and very little auto traffic.

Robert



AirMan wrote:


http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.... 517515&rfi=8


http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,14...earch=filt er

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 13:27:28 GMT, Robert Chambers
wrote:

A friggin casinio. forward thinkers
they are NOT.

I remember when casinos were forced down our throats in louisiana...
fear them.

"Robert Chambers" wrote in message
. com...

There are acres and acres of prime waterfront available in Bridgeport,
which incidentally is a pretty good deep water port. What was the
latest great idea for the area? A friggin casinio. forward thinkers
they are NOT.

I remember going to the Sikorsky plant in Bridgeport a couple of years ago.
I was impressed by the downtown area by the train station. There must have
been five or six blocks where I didn't feel like I was going to be shot at.
Between that and your typical CT taxes and regulations it's a marvel they've
got anything better than a couple illegal shish-ke-bab stands. It's already
a crack-addled moonscape, how would a casino make it any worse? It's not
like what's left of the local labor pool is cut out for much more. I suppose
you could hold out in hopes of a South Norwalk-style revival but come on,
it's Bridgeport we're talking about.

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 09:39:34 GMT, "H.P." wrote:

I read a while ago that Bob Crandall was considering basing his new air taxi
operation, POGO, at BDR.

Do any of the air taxi operations make money? Just curious.

Robert Chambers wrote:

I'm based at BDR and there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye.

The airport is actually in the town of Stratford but the city of
Bridgeport owns it. Stratford wanted some tax money for it as it is
quite a few acres of property. Bridgeport said "we are a municipal
organization, we don't have to pay property taxes" so Stratford took
them to court and the court sided with Bridgeport so it's been a ****ing
match ever since.

What Stratford doesn't realize is that Bridgeport is not going to be
handing back to the FAA any grant money, they don't have it to spare.

Bridgeport has lost pretty much all the manufacturing jobs it ever had,
there are factory buildings and warehouses standing empty and loads of
vacant space waiting for people to build something on it. There's no
demand for space in the Bridgeport area. Transportation is a disaster
here with I-95 choked with traffic and construction. Labor costs are
high and Connecticut has a pretty business-unfriendly
unemployment-insurance setup compared to other states. Most of the
manufacturing jobs have gone out of the country or down south. Hell,
even the presidential helicopter got awarded to Lockheed who are in bed
with some overseas outfits (who will wind up making parts for it).

The Urban Land Institute aparrently looked at the land and came up with
this proposal pretty quickly so you know how much thought went into it.

Across the street from the airport is the old Avco-lycoming factory
where until 6 or so years ago they built the turbine engines for the
tanks. That whole property except for a few small companies is sitting
empty and idle. There's no demand for manufacturing space.

This is just a politicians way to try and make some brownie points with
the constituents. They figure that the voters in town would rather have
a bunch of warehouses and tractor-trailers in their neighborhoods
instead of the few aircraft and very little auto traffic.

Another wrinkle is that FAA has a sizable AFSS there that serves most of Southern New England.
Does the FAA operate any AFSS's in the continental US that are away from airports? I doubt they
would want to start here. That's a bunch of jobs right off that bat.

Part of me says if a community really doesn't want to have an airport that badly, then let them
reap what they sow.

Yes, but what they sow is poison that affects all of GA... The demise
of Bridgeport is sad... When I was a young whippersnapper, a
Bridgeport mill or lathe was the Rolls Royce of machinery...
Here in Michigan the tax and regulation climate is becoming
semi-friendly to business (the biased pro-union / anti- employer laws
are not, however)... What is hysterically funny (to me) is that our
elected Democrat Governor has to swallow hard almost every day and
propose further cuts in state pork for the willfully unemployed and the
socialism fanatics, and is now even proposing a reduction in the Single
Business Tax (just saying those three words makes my blood pressure go
up, being a business that gets hosed by this tax)... For which I will
give her endless credit for using common sense over her political
religion...

Denny

Exactly... the town of Stratford has such a bug up it's butt about not
getting taxes on the airport acreage that they think that any excuse to
put it on the tax rolls is ok. I can't imagine me doing much flying if
BDR closed down. Part of the reason I fly is getting from one place to
another quickly. my drive to the airport is 5 minutes, preflight is 20
and I can be in the air in about 30-45 mins. My next closest airport is
HVN which is on the other side of a horrible bridge trafficwise. Or
HPN which is very expensive or OXC which is just plain out of the way.

I'm thinking that this proposal was floated without any real
investigation, after all who knows anything about this Urban Land
Institute anyway or what their agenda is. I'm guessing it will all blow
over in due course once the real story comes out and the real costs
involved to do what they propose are known.

Robert

Denny wrote:

Yes, but what they sow is poison that affects all of GA... The demise
of Bridgeport is sad... When I was a young whippersnapper, a
Bridgeport mill or lathe was the Rolls Royce of machinery...
Here in Michigan the tax and regulation climate is becoming
semi-friendly to business (the biased pro-union / anti- employer laws
are not, however)... What is hysterically funny (to me) is that our
elected Democrat Governor has to swallow hard almost every day and
propose further cuts in state pork for the willfully unemployed and the
socialism fanatics, and is now even proposing a reduction in the Single
Business Tax (just saying those three words makes my blood pressure go
up, being a business that gets hosed by this tax)... For which I will
give her endless credit for using common sense over her political
religion...

Denny