Stewart adjusts and abides tough times
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Into its second year of managing Stewart International Airport, the Port Authority is getting to know the Hudson Valley. Now it wants the Hudson Valley to do likewise.
At its first meeting with the Stewart Airport Commission (SAC) Jan. 27, general manager Diannae Ehler reported that out of the 23 responses she received to an RFP to re-roof several buildings, only two of the companies who put in bids were local contractors. Â
To get the word out that the PA is looking for Hudson Valley and minority/women-owned businesses to work with the agency, it will sponsor “How to do business with the Port Authority” on Thursday, March 5, at the Orange County Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Montgomery.
“We want and need local businesses to bid on our contracts,” said Ehler. “It”™s a win-win for us and for the region.”
The PA has updated its Web site, www.panynj.gov, making it interactive to promote the idea of doing business with the agency, and has added a tourism component to the site to let visitors know “Stewart is not just an  alternative airport, but is also located in one of the most beautiful vacation areas in the country,” said Ehler.
With relentless news of the thousands of job losses and company closings clogging the airwaves, Virginia-based AFCO acquired AvPorts, which managed Stewart”™s daily operations, Jan. 1 “in a seamless transition that resulted in all the staff being kept on board, with no loss in salary or benefits,” said Ehler. AFCO also manages daily operations at Westchester County Airport.
Fuel prices put the airline industry on a roller coaster, with several airlines going out of business or merging with others to stay viable. Â “Now that fuel prices have stabilized, and we hope they will continue to remain stable, we are focusing on marketing Stewart to the public,” said Ehler. “Skybus was great; it brought many people here that didn”™t even know Stewart existed. But they are out of business. We also need to reach out to people who think we are too expensive. Our flights to Florida are the same price as other airlines; Westchester County Airport is $1 less,” said Ehler. “We need to change the perception the public has about the cost of flying out of here.”
Clearly, its new Hudson Valley airport has the Port Authority on a learning curve. One example: “Winter operations. So far, we”™ve had 14 snow events so far since the season started,” said Ehler. “We have a separate area to de-ice planes to avoid runoff, and we have also set up an office to monitor conditions to let ground crews know when it is the best time to begin de-icing operations. We have implemented some fees, but the income generated by the fees will help us purchase better snow removal equipment. We have 30 miles of runway to keep clear.” Ehler said just one piece of equipment can cost $500,000.
“There”™s a lot of work to be done and we”™re tackling it” Ehler said. “We are committed to our 10-year capital improvement plan. And although plans may change, we still have to have a plan to work with. Because we are working in ”˜unchartered waters,”™ we are relying on our outside consulting firm to help us best market the airport for both business and leisure travelers, as well as to promote cargo service. If there is an alternative to getting goods and services moved through a faster and more convenient location ”“ that”™s Stewart ”“ we want to capture that market.”
Ehler said the PA”™s new interactive Web site will include promotion of the Hudson Valley as a tourism destination to other parts of the country and to New York state, “for those who don”™t realize we are located in one of the most beautiful areas of New York. We are not just an airport, we are also a ”˜destination”™ airport.  From the dozens of bed and breakfasts to apple picking, it”™s all on the PA”™s new interactive Web site.” Â
Currently, Stewart has contracts with four airlines: Delta and Northwest, which are now merged, jetBlue, and U.S. Airways, which just added a fourth flight to Philadelphia. But Ehler made no bones about the struggling airline industry: “DHL has pulled out of all U.S. markets, leaving 9,500 employees without jobs. Manufacturers of private planes are down. This is probably one of the toughest times in the aviation industry since Wright took off in the first airplane.”
The recent U.S. Airways flight that went down in the Hudson was cause for concern from SAC members. “We have a 6,500 acre wildlife preserve here, and the DEC plans to make this a wildlife habitat,” said Jim Wright, SAC chairman. “There are turkey vultures and Canada geese, and these are the kinds of birds that can bring down an airplane. We can”™t control what”™s going on outside the airport property, but clearly, we have a problem literally sitting next to us.”
Thanks to Wright”™s comments, Gov. Paterson”™s representative put in a call to the Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC will come down and make a presentation on its plans to mitigate potential problems in Stewart Forest at the board”™s next meeting on Tuesday, March 24. Both Wright and Lou Heimbach were voted in unanimously for another year as respective chairman and co-chairman of the SAC panel, which is part of the Department of Transportation. “We have more than 200 years of combined experience about this airport sitting on this panel,” said Wright after the meeting. “We”™re more than ready to see Stewart reach its potential.”