Bridgeport Wants Out, Eyes Sikorsky Sale to State

In 15 years as manager of Bridgeport's Sikorsky Memorial Airport, John Ricci has seen death, destruction, floods, the withering away of commercial flights and Stratford's unending opposition to expansion plans.

Now, he says, it's time for the city of Bridgeport to sell the 800-acre landmark to the state, which would have an easier time forcing improvements on Stratford and transform the historic field -- the nation's first air show was held there in 1911 -- into a regional economic turbo-prop.

Ricci and others, including Bridgeport Mayor John M. Fabrizi, are ready to concede victory to the Stratford NIMBYs and let the state take over the management of the $1.5 million-a-year operation after 60 years of city ownership.

They believe that the airport has the potential to fit nicely into Gov. M. Jodi Rell's unified theory of local development projects benefiting transportation and regional business growth in a cascade effect.

"I think the best government agency to run an airport would be the state, not a municipality," Ricci said last week, pointing to urgent infrastructure needs, including the demolition of an aging airport building that the city simply cannot afford.

The state, he said, could mandate longer runways that would make the facility competitive with Tweed-New Haven Airport, Westchester County Airport in New York and even Oxford Airport, which in recent years has received millions of dollars in state funds to expand and update.

"We could probably use a million-and-a-half dollars right away," Ricci said from his office overlooking the main, 4,800-foot runway, which 20 years ago hosted daily commercial flights for Delta Connection, Continental Connection and US Airways Express.

Westchester, by comparison, has a 7,000-foot runway with plenty of room for commercial flights that ceased in Bridgeport back in 1999.

State Rep. Robert T. Keeley Jr., D-Bridgeport, has submitted legislation that would turn the airport over to the state to operate like a smaller version of Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.

Keeley said that since Stratford has failed in developing the sprawling former Stratford Army Engine Plant on Main Street, a state takeover of the airport could be just what is needed to attract tenants to feed -- and be fed off -- a revitalized airport.

Keeley said with Lordship real estate at a peak, it's no secret that there's less air traffic and virtually no loud jets as technology has quieted them.

"I understand Lordship doesn't like it, but they knew there was an airport here when they bought their homes," Keeley said.

Speaker of the House James A. Amann, D-Milford, said last week he favors the proposal, which he believes could foster the so-called Smart Grow philosophy of regional-development objectives.

"We need an expanded airport," Amann said.

Paul S. Timpanelli, President and CEO of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, was enthusiastic last week about the idea.

"If you look at any major urban regional center around the country that has been revitalized, one of the things that's always on the list is that they invest heavily in a regional airport," Timpanelli said. "I'm a strong believer that any public infrastructure asset that's regional in nature should not be locally owned."

He said that for the Bridgeport region to rebound, the return of commercial air traffic is a necessity.

"We need commercial flights to commercial hubs, like Atlanta, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh," Timpanelli said, stressing that the development of the vacant Stratford Army Engine Plant, would be a lot easier with a revitalized airport.

"Even if we have just one flight a day to the commercial hubs, that piece of real estate would become much more valuable if it were a real airport and that could become a significant development that could impact Stratford's tax base," Timpanelli said.