Jun. 16—Syracuse Hancock International Airport could soon have its own police officers and the financing necessary to make significant infrastructure improvements.
Before the end of the state legislative session in early June, lawmakers approved legislation that would allow the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority, which operates the airport, to establish its own police force.
Jason Terreri, the airport's executive director, told The Citizen on Wednesday that the authority's enabling legislation did not allow it to create a law enforcement agency. The bill, which was authored by state Sen. John Mannion, a Syracuse-area Democrat, would amend the enabling legislation to clear the way for the airport to have its own police officers.
Now, Syracuse police officers are at the airport, but Terreri explained that they are on a secondary work permit and the airport is not part of a Syracuse Police Department detail.
"Most airport authorities have their own police force," he said. "The reason we really wanted to do that is so that we could create our own police force, which would give us a little bit more control in terms of staffing and how we manage the overall operations of the airport."
The authority will determine how many officers are needed for the force. Under the current setup using Syracuse police officers, the airport budgets for five officers per shift, according to Terreri.
"That's probably in the ballpark of where it would be and we run three shifts," he said.
A separate bill would amend other provisions in the airport authority's enabling legislation, namely its bonding capacity and the length of terms for some board members. The measure would increase the airport's bonding limit by $100 million, from $200 million to $300 million.
The existing bonding limit is restrictive, Terreri said. With the additional $100 million, the authority will have more capacity to issue debt to finance major projects, including the construction of a parking deck and the landside redevelopment of the airport.
The legislation would also increase the terms for rotating board members from the towns of Cicero, Clay, Salina and North Syracuse school district. Under the current rules, these members serve one-year terms. The bill would make it a two-year term for the rotating seat.
Gov. Kathy Hochul must sign the legislation. Terreri said they expect that the governor will sign the bills.
The airport is rebounding after the COVID-19 pandemic affected air travel. In April, Syracuse's air traffic returned to pre-pandemic levels.
There has been good news involving new flights out of Syracuse. Last week, Breeze Airways launched service from Syracuse to Charleston, South Carolina, and Las Vegas.
"We're doing really well," Terreri said. "The biggest challenge that we're facing is the same that everyone else is facing right now, which is the pilot shortage and some of the changes the airlines are facing in terms of growth. We have been fortunate. We have not lost a lot of service, especially going through the summer, and that just speaks to the strength of this region and the market."
Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.
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