"Capital" Punishment

In my nearly 60 years of following the Tweed-New Haven Airport saga, I have heard just about every excuse there is from Tweed's detractors as to why Bradley International should be the airport for the entire state.

The one that wins the championship belt is this one: "Hartford is the state capital!"

Well, there it is, folks. I mean, doesn't that sum it up? Hartford, by virtue of being the capital city of Connecticut---the nerve center of the state, if you will---should go to the head of the line and have the best airport and the most air service.

Of course, Hartford also prided itself on being known as the "Insurance City." But, as was the case with Waterbury, the "Brass City," Meriden, the "Silver City," and Danbury, the "Hat City," the title has fallen on hard times.

Don't be surprised. Hartford, while not the state's largest city, has an ego at least twice its size, and it's always wanted to position itself as a major player. Kind of tough to do when you're between two metropolitan areas like New York and Boston. Some of you may remember when the city made a play to lure the New England Patriots away from the Boston area. The end result was Pats owner Robert Kraft using the overture as leverage to get concessions from the state of Massachusetts to eventually stay, leaving Connecticut Governor John Rowland with egg on his face. But I digress.

So, does it stand to reason that being a state capital equates with a better airport and air service?

Let's take a look at some U. S. states and their cities with air service. Naturally, I have opted to obviate places like California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Texas, which have "gateway" airports. Under each state will be an airport city, followed by the length of its longest runway and the number of airlines serving it. An asterisk (*) denotes the state's capital city.

Alabama

Birmingham: 12,007 feet, 4 airlines. Huntsville: 12,600 feet, 5 airlines. Montgomery*: 9,020 feet, 3 airlines. Mobile: 9,618 feet, 3 airlines.

Kentucky

Frankfort*: 5,506 feet, 0 airlines. Lexington: 7,004 feet, 4 airlines. Louisville: 11,887 feet, 8 airlines.

Louisiana

Alexandria: 9,532 feet, 3 airlines. Baton Rouge*: 7,500 feet, 3 airlines. Monroe: 7,504 feet, 2 airlines. New Orleans: 10,104 feet, 15 airlines. Shreveport: 8,348 feet, 4 airlines.

Maine

Augusta*: 5,002 feet, 2 airlines. Bangor: 11,400 feet, 8 airlines. Portland: 6,100 feet, 7 airlines.

Maryland

Annapolis*: 2,505 feet, 0 airlines. Baltimore: 10,503 feet, 16 airlines. Hagerstown: 7,000 feet, 1 airline. Salisbury: 6,400 feet, 2 airlines.

Michigan

Detroit: 10,001 feet, 21 airlines. Grand Rapids: 10,001 feet, 6 airlines. Lansing*: 8,506 feet, 3 airlines.

Missouri

Jefferson City*: 6,000 feet, 0 airlines.

Kansas City: 10,801 feet, 9 airlines.

St. Louis: 11,020 feet, 12 airlines.

Nevada

Carson City*: 6,101 feet, 0 airlines. Las Vegas: 14,835 feet, 35 airlines. Reno: 11,001 feet, 11 airlines.

New Hampshire

Concord*: 6,005 feet, 0 airlines. Manchester: 9,250 feet, 7 airlines. Portsmouth: 11,332 feet, 3 airlines.

Oregon

Eugene: 8,009 feet, 7 airlines. Portland: 11,000 feet, 19 airlines. Salem*: 5,811 feet, 5 airlines.

As you can see by the above examples, being a state capital means little in being #1 in air transport. (In the case of Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri and New Hampshire, it means nothing!) The non-capital cities listed above took the initiative to move forward with their airports, not waiting for permission from the state. I would imagine that a number of state legislatures actually assisted in bringing the airports in their state's cities up to speed. New York's U. S. Senator Chuck Schumer has been, if nothing else, a tireless advocate in improving the non-New York City airports in his state

But we're not talking other state capitals, we're talking Hartford and their hegemonic agenda of being not only the #1 city in Connecticut, but the "gateway to New England" (don't tell Greenwich. They think they are). They take their state capital status seriously, as they have since 1872, when New Haven surrendered its co-capital rights.

And it seems this would extend to the Connecticut Airports Authority, whose covert goal is to protect Bradley at all costs. Besides Bradley, the CAA's other airports include Danielson, Groton-New London, Hartford/Brainard, Waterbury-Oxford and Windham, which their webpage identifies as "General Aviation Airports." Guess who that leaves as the only "commercial" airport in the bunch. That's right, the other five airports take a back seat while Bradley does the driving. Even Hartford's own Brainard isn't exempt. Too, with a population of 115,908, making it the state's fifth most populous city, even Waterbury gets short shrift in the area of air service.

No, parish forbid some downstate city decides to get "uppity" and try to improve its airport, as is currently the case with Tweed.

Do you suppose there's some sort of "partnership" we don't know about between the powers that be in Hartford and the CAA?

Would that explain why billboards advertising Bradley just "happen" to be placed near exit 51 on I-95, the exit for Tweed?

Would that explain why advertising on the railroad cars of Metro-North's New Haven Line trains included posters exhorting people to come to their "happy place": Bradley International Airport?

Would that explain why, in 2009, the General Assembly passed (without benefit of a public hearing, mind you,) a state statute limiting Tweed's runway at 5,600 feet? A statute which was subsequently nullified in court?

Would that explain a delegation from the CAA meeting with Yale University officials, persuading them to make Bradley the airport of choice for their faculty, staff and students?

And would that explain the CAA's failed attempt (for now) at buying Sikorsky Memorial Airport from the City of Bridgeport?

I would suspect that the upstate pols of the General Assembly took full advantage of the East Haven and Stratford delegation in defeating any legislation beneficial to Tweed or Sikorsky. (Can you say, "useful idiots"?)

Remember, Hartford can't do much about those travelers who opt to use the airports in Queens, White Plains or Providence. Those airports are outside the state's boundaries. (I remember one Bradley poster that adorned the vestibules of Metro-North's New Haven Line trains. It read, "La Guardia. Great Mayor, Lousy Airport." Swell bunch o' guys, eh?)

But they can attempt a lot to keep Connecticut's airports in line, either through the General Assembly, particularly with the help of the East Haven and Stratford delegations which hate their neighboring airports, the courts, strategic advertising and public relations, "by any means necessary."

If we let them.