Bradley International Airport

[MadVlad]

” Kissel said. “I’m not sure we are maximizing the full potential.” Yeah, and I'm not sure the world is round...

[beerbeer]

This guy gets it! Q&A talks with Michael Gallis of Gallis & Associates who will be speaking next week at the Connecticut Venture Group’s Crossroads of Ideas and Capital: Vision 2015 in Healthcare, Digital Media and Energy event June 22 at the Yale Law School in New Haven.

Q: You’ve also done some work for Charlotte Douglas, San Diego and San Antonio International Airports. Connecticut has long sought to be a true international airport. What would your recommendation be to get us back on track after losing our direct flight to Amsterdam a few years ago?

A: Air service is a direct response to market conditions. There are two international airports near Connecticut — JFK and Boston Logan. JFK is by far the largest and most important, and a short distance away from the state. I should add that I don’t think that we need to always think of only the resources we have within the state, as it is a small state, and resources just across our border can be equally accessible. The problem for air service is that those two airports are in heavily congested areas that can be a real barrier to travelers from Connecticut and while they can provide the service we need, getting there is the problem. This is a perfect example of the growing isolation. The airport is near in miles but far due to congestion and the lack of reliable surface transportation. This is a central issue for the economic future of the state as in the world today there are what we call one-stop cities and two- or three-stop cities defined by how many flight segments that are needed to arrive at you destination. Cities like New York, Los Angles, London, Paris, Tokyo or Beijing and Shanghai are one-stop cities. Connecticut is on the edge between being a one- and two-stop location. The closer it come to being a two-stop destination, the further it gets from the mainstream of global economic growth.

[Hiramicus]

Those are very good points, but I think on that note, I think we should push to be better connected to Logan and JFK in that case. Wouldn't it be great if we had a metro-north train that ran to a terminus at JFK? Even an express bus service would be welcomed. Apart from driving and parking at these locations, there are not many options for arriving at the airports.

[Hiramicus]

Those are very good points, but I think on that note, I think we should push to be better connected to Logan and JFK in that case. Wouldn't it be great if we had a metro-north train that ran to a terminus at JFK? Even an express bus service would be welcomed. Apart from driving and parking at these locations, there are not many options for arriving at the airports.

[The Voice of Reason]

So, we lost our flight to Milwaukee or however its spelled, but Jet blue is adding a flight to San Juan PR

we need a route developer

[The Voice of Reason]

The airport commission now exixts. its official they met for the first time.

Amongst their goals is to increase flight options including a transatlantic flight again.

We shall see as business travel is up so it might be sustainable now. gas prices are still high, so thats a good thing in a way because airlines know what they are getting into. If we can establish a flight for a year or more it will last IMO, international flights take a while to catch on and it takes a while for airlines to shuffel the connecting domestic flights acordingly.

we will see how this pands out, but at least this authority is not the DOT/DMV, its a little more air centric, so I am glad.

[beerbeer]

Getting Bradley out of the hands of the DOT will pay dividends for decades.

Getting a European route should have been a priority for the last 50 years. Great that the commission realizes that.

[The Voice of Reason]

i read an interesting article about how the 787 dreamliner is opening up new flights because of its range and efficincy making certain routes now feasable.

San Diego to Tokyo being one. apparently it needs less runway than some other jets. also tokyo Boston was mentioned.

not sure if the 787 would have any affect on Bradley, but it made me wonder what could be

[malikr65]

I read most of the threads here but I don't post too often so forgive me if this has been posted somewhere else already. I looked in a few threads and I didn't see any postings about the new Terminal B at Bradley.

http://www.stvinc.com/project.aspx?id=412&ser=58&i=1

http://www.stvinc.com/pdf/Bradley%20International%20Airport-1.pdf

This company also seems to have experience in adding rail service to airports. Could this be in Bradley's long term future too?

http://www.stvinc.com/project.aspx?id=6&ser=58&i=1

http://www.stvinc.com/project.aspx?id=220&m=&s=&div=&ser=58

[beerbeer]

I read most of the threads here but I don't post too often so forgive me if this has been posted somewhere else already. I looked in a few threads and I didn't see any postings about the new Terminal B at Bradley.

http://www.stvinc.co...=412&ser=58&i=1

http://www.stvinc.co...l Airport-1.pdf

This company also seems to have experience in adding rail service to airports. Could this be in Bradley's long term future too?

http://www.stvinc.co...id=6&ser=58&i=1

http://www.stvinc.co...&s=&div=&ser=58

If the state had the vision to build the Griffin Line when it was funded by the Feds in the 1990's we would already have Hartford to Bradley light rail. It was killed by Connecticut's visionary DOT.

I noticed there was no timeline on the PDF for the new terminal. I assume the origal building would have to be demolished first.

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

^{Anyone have any photos they can post here of the "people mover" / monorail that was installed at BDL, and then ripped out, in the 1970's? Kind of reminds me of the busway boondoggle. Also, what was the projected path of the "Griffin Line"?}

Edited May 29, 2012 by Theophrastus Bombastus

[beash19]

^{Anyone have any photos they can post here of the "people mover" / monorail that was installed at BDL, and then ripped out, in the 1970's? Kind of reminds me of the busway boondoggle. Also, what was the projected path of the "Griffin Line"?}

Was it ever put into operation? I saw a couple of photos of the cars (if we can call them that) which had actual wheels on them. Were they to run on rails? I found some articles that reference it except to say that it came about during the change in administrations and when the new admin came in, they were prepared to blow the $4.25M and just get rid of the entire project. Until you mentioned it here, I never knew it existed.

[Luca Brasi]

^{Anyone have any photos they can post here of the "people mover" / monorail that was installed at BDL, and then ripped out, in the 1970's? Kind of reminds me of the busway boondoggle. Also, what was the projected path of the "Griffin Line"?}

If I remember correctly, The proposed Griffin line was light rail that ran from Bradley to downtown ending under the existing Convention Center. It was a no-brainer then and even more so now that the Convention Center was built. Conventions are booked on availability and convenience and what better way to sell conventions when you can step off your flight and get on a train that lets you off at your hotel/convention center?I picked up some business associates at Bradley a couple months ago and they said the empty Terminal B looked like it was straight out of the Soviet Union.

[HartfordTycoon]

I'm not sure the Griffin line tracks actually connect to Bradley. I think it ends in the Dayhill Rd. area of Bloomfield and would have to be extended. It certainly was and still is a good project. The biggest obstacle to rail in this area is the fact that all of the crossings are at-grade and go through densely populated areas. I really wish they could get serious about mass transit in the Hartford area and address all of these issues as a long term solution instead of being so short sighted. Now they are ripping up a perfectly good rail right of way for the Busway. This state really does depress the hell out of me sometimes. It's like the same backwards, small-time thinking that caused Hartford to break up into Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford, and Manchester back in the day. Hartford has done its best to never become a real big city.

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

Here are some 'people mover' articles - love how they think $4MM is a lot of money....

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zC5SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JzYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5713%2C4084666

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VOlHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=n_8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=1460%2C2483461

[The Voice of Reason]

When I read Malikr65 post with those renderings it reminded me of the below article hinting about airport expansion

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news23785.html?Type=search

I think a May 7 article and a May 27 rendering leak are too much of a coincidence

Here is some info from the article.

By early June, the Connecticut Airport Authority expects to announce its first executive director, the start of a line of pending improvements, possibly including a new terminal at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.

[HartfordTycoon]

Wow, I didn't even catch the rendering for the New Terminal B. It definitely looks pretty cool. Definitely hope they make this happen. It also says they are planning a new garage and integrated car rental facility. This would be a huge step up.

[The Voice of Reason]

Wow, I didn't even catch the rendering for the New Terminal B. It definitely looks pretty cool. Definitely hope they make this happen. It also says they are planning a new garage and integrated car rental facility. This would be a huge step up.

The parking/car rental setup at bradley absolutely contributes to its minor league feel, or would it be a backwater feel... either way, the area around the actual airport can clearly absorb some serious improvements

[Luca Brasi]

Well here it is... the story regarding a new car rental facility, new parking garage and new Terminal B at Bradley that will bring us 19 new gates. This terminal would be even larger than the existing Terminal A. Completion date is 2018. Why does everything take soooo long around here???

http://www.courant.c...,0,740599.story

Edited July 10, 2012 by Luca Brasi

[HartfordTycoon]

Well here it is... the story regarding a new car rental facility, new parking garage and new Terminal B at Bradley that will bring us 19 new gates. This terminal would be even larger than the existing Terminal A. Completion date is 2018. Why does everything take soooo long around here???

http://www.courant.c...,0,740599.story

CT people are about the least ambitious in the world from the standpoint of developing our state.

[The Voice of Reason]

it seems the renderings do not currently include rail access to the terminal.

I would severely hope that if they are building a $650 million terminal to be completed in 2018...

and also building a billion dollar commuter rail through the state slated for completion around 2018...

and the two are just a mere 5 miles or so apart...

they would be daft not to include an extention of the rail to include this new terminal.

The economic impact of this combination could be absolutely epic!!!

Imagine a train waiting in New haven at the metronorth terminus "Bradley Express" with stops only in say Meriden and Hartford before hitting the airports new international terminal..

MTA says its between 95 and 110 minutes to New Haven from Grand Central

an express train to the airport would be no more than 40 minutes, maybe 45

So from Midtown Manhattan you could be at the airport terminal in CT in about 2.5 Hours or JFK in 1 hour

From New Haven you could be at the airport terminal in CT in about 45 minutes or JFK in 2 hours 50 minutes

From Stamford you could be at the airport terminal B at BDL or JFK in an hour and 45 minutes or so

Mind you these estimates are TOTALLY BS and based on metro north to Grand Central, then subway to Jamaica Station and Airtran to terminal 2 and does not take into account time of day, just rough estimates for train waits and of course that fact that the NH-H-S Commuter rail and its imaginary spur to the not yet finalized financed or built Terminal B at BDL...is not yet built. or finalized either.

The moral of the story is that I think Bradley would win passengers from much further south than it currently does and therefore would puck up routs and therefore more passengers, and might actually need that new terminal by 2025!

[drc72]

it seems the renderings do not currently include rail access to the terminal.

I would severely hope that if they are building a $650 million terminal to be completed in 2018...

and also building a billion dollar commuter rail through the state slated for completion around 2018...

and the two are just a mere 5 miles or so apart...

they would be daft not to include an extention of the rail to include this new terminal.

The economic impact of this combination could be absolutely epic!!!

Imagine a train waiting in New haven at the metronorth terminus "Bradley Express" with stops only in say Meriden and Hartford before hitting the airports new international terminal..

MTA says its between 95 and 110 minutes to New Haven from Grand Central

an express train to the airport would be no more than 40 minutes, maybe 45

So from Midtown Manhattan you could be at the airport terminal in CT in about 2.5 Hours or JFK in 1 hour

From New Haven you could be at the airport terminal in CT in about 45 minutes or JFK in 2 hours 50 minutes

From Stamford you could be at the airport terminal B at BDL or JFK in an hour and 45 minutes or so

Mind you these estimates are TOTALLY BS and based on metro north to Grand Central, then subway to Jamaica Station and Airtran to terminal 2 and does not take into account time of day, just rough estimates for train waits and of course that fact that the NH-H-S Commuter rail and its imaginary spur to the not yet finalized financed or built Terminal B at BDL...is not yet built. or finalized either.

The moral of the story is that I think Bradley would win passengers from much further south than it currently does and therefore would puck up routs and therefore more passengers, and might actually need that new terminal by 2025!

I gotta admit you have some nice ideas, and they make a lot of sense economically.

[beerbeer]

The parking/car rental setup at bradley absolutely contributes to its minor league feel, or would it be a backwater feel... either way, the area around the actual airport can clearly absorb some serious improvements

I've rented cared cars at dozens of airports from LAX to Brussels. Nothing wrong with Bradley's set up. It is actually pretty fast in and out compared to most.

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-american-airlines-hartford-los-angeles-20130410,0,5867197.story

 

That's good, maybe we'll also get an international flight out of the merger too.

[The Voice of Reason]

I've rented cared cars at dozens of airports from LAX to Brussels. Nothing wrong with Bradley's set up. It is actually pretty fast in and out compared to most.

 

 

HA!

just noticed this.   The brussels car rental was extremely interesting from my perspective.  did you use Eurocar?

 

I rented at Eurocar in Brussels and was just lost and confused by it.

 

 

I dont tend to fly US Air or American, but looking at the flights they have now, they are starting to look more beneficial overall.

 

American/US does direct to Dallas, Miami, Chicago, Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Philly and now to LA.  I am not sure thats quite enough to go international off of because most of those are hub cities that already have their own trans atlantic.  The best feeder for transatlantic would be Dallas and LA, but I can only assume that Charlotte, NY, Miami etc, are all better connecting locations than Hartford for international traffic. 

 

What is great though is the trans pacific options gained out of Hartford.  This flight will save time for alot of business travelers from the area.

 

I know I have heard people complain about a lack of a West cost connector when I travel.

 

 

Edited April 11, 2013 by The Voice of Reason