American Cuts Flights

Cutting flights so let's make the airport bigger. The area is low wetlands, it floods all the time. More asphalt is not going to help that situation not to mention the pollution. Most coastal cities showcase their shoreline not pollute it, pave it, and encourage industry (look at the scrap metal yards in fair haven). Maybe New Haven will see the light at some point and give up on this stupid idea. It will not create jobs it will just soak taxpayers more money. Bradley and White Plains are nearby.

In March - they're only adding 12 flights - I'm underwhelmed. I guess the market demand Tweeders have been Harping about isn't so real - guess there's a limited number of people who are willing to pay a higher fare than what one can get at White Plains and Bradley - and direct too.

American Airlines went from 37 seat planes in November of 2017 to 50 seat planes and later went to 65 seat planes in 2018 and then in 2019 to 76 seat planes. @Noteworthy, The months of January to April are the slowest months for air travel and in May, American returns with three daily flights to Philly. The increase in enplanements rose 30% in 2019 over 2018. So much for your saying the demand is not real. @Twentyniner, Tweed does not flood all the time, one time last year the terminal had several inches of water due in the terminal, being a former hanger, its elevation is the same as the tarmac aircraft move about on but the new Tweed terminal will be higher than ground level.There was never any flooding on Tweeds runway that sometimes Sikorsky experiences, you know, the airport some feel is better equipped to handle commercial airline flights, but it's runway is 900 feet shorter, closer to the water and at a lower elevation. Bradley and White Plains are not nearby.
Like it or not, Tweed will continue to grow and meet the needs of area travelers. The last flight I took out of Tweed was filled to capacity with 76 passengers.
I see another carrier coming to Tweed this year and with the last tree in the flight path cut down, that will improve take offs to the North and landings to the South.

The total number of passengers is rising each year requiring larger planes. Now we need service to places other than Philadelphia and Charlotte once a week. I would use direct service to Chicago. I'm sure others would use Washington and a Florida destination.

At noteworthy, I have chosen Tweed over Bradley on 80% of flights Over the last few years as fares are less expensive.

Recently at Tweed my family's flight was basically full. Most flights switch planes in Philadelphia, so it would be ideal if there were more destinations. I have yet to fly Tweed through Charlotte, but I hope those flights increase to daily. The article could be more clear to say that Tweed has had this winter reduction in flights for several years now. The total number of passengers using Tweed is up though, which is good.

Twentyniner.... so to save the wetlands we should drive 100 miles round trip?

@Ryn111 pretty soon, you'll need a row boat to get in & out of Tweed. The South end of the runway safety zone (where they want to pave?) is 6 feet above sea level. And yes, the alternative is to invest in public transportation, so we don't all drive -- the Hartford/Springfield train line with looping shuttles to Bradley. It's coming.

@RHeerema "pretty soon, you'll need a row boat to get in & out of Tweed. The South end of the runway safety zone (where they want to pave?) is 6 feet above sea level. And yes, the alternative is to invest in public transportation, so we don't all drive—the Hartford/Springfield train line with looping shuttles to Bradley." Imagine what the train ride would be like, stopping at many small stations along the way & then lugging baggage & family onto shuttle buses & then dealing with long walks to ticket counter & gate areas. Now with Tweed its a short drive to the airport, a very short walk to the counter & gate area. You were the one who spoke of a water chute at the end of the runway along with deice fluid & fuel running down this imaginary chute. No such chute exists & planes are not deiced on the runway & no plane with a fuel leak would depart given all planes are given a walk around. You are bitter because you bought a home near the Tweed & now have buyers remorse. I'd say you bought the home near the Tweed because prices for homes were slightly less than other areas in the cove. Needing a rowboat to access Tweed?,you have a very active imagination as shown by many of your comments. This past year airports in Houston and Fort Lauderdale flooded far worse than Tweed did, roads were blocked & much higher levels of water were in the terminals, Tweed had several inches of water & no flooding of the runways.
Rather than cause thousands of travelers to travel much farther to catch a flight, it seems the sensible thing to do is look for another home far away from an airport. Tweed is catching on with area travelers as shown by rising passenger numbers & now with the last tree taken down, soon planes can use the full 5600 feet at both ends. I expect another airline to commit to Tweed this year. Apart from airline traffic, private aircraft numbers will continue to climb so Tweed is here to stay. You have two options, stay & see if life will end as you say or move away.

@Susan Campion. "We are willing to look at just making this airport better, but not necessarily bigger." Please tell me what you mean by "We are willing to look at just making this airport better, but not necessarily bigger." What does the airport need in terms of infrastructure to make it better? What besides upgrading the runway will make Tweed a better airport? What will make Tweed more attractive to area travelers wanting to use the airport? You must have something in mind by making that comment. When you say not necessarily bigger, what aspects are you talking about? The current runway plan will not involve expanding the airports borders, but will pave some of the already existing runway overruns. You also say "we", is this the desire of others or are the "we" opposed to any runway improvements? There seems to be a difference of opinion among some of Tweed's neighbors. Tweed will never go away as some hope for, but what can be done to make the airport "better" as you say and yet all involved come to an understanding that some change needs to happen to make Tweed "better" by modestly increasing service to a reasonable level that can benefit travelers and not cause a drastic change in the complexion of the cove area.
I await your reply, thank you.

""There is a path to making Tweed more of a viable airport," Looney said Monday. For that to happen, he said, Tweed must produce more "community benefits" (like more home soundproofing) for East Shore neighbors and shift its entrance to the East Haven side so travelers would drive there along commercial Hemingway Avenue rather than the residential Annex and Morris Cove. Fasano predicted that a state study will show that it makes more sense to expand commercial service at Sikorsky Airport rather than Tweed."" It seems Mr Looney has a better handle on the Tweed issue than Mr Fasano.
To compile a study should take one day, First, Tweeds runway is 900 feet longer than Sikorsky's runway and has a higher weight bearing capacity, moving on,Tweed runway has 1000 foot overruns at each end, Sikorsky Airport does not and also lacks the room to lengthen its runway and add FAA mandated overruns. Next, Sikorsky's runway is at a lower elevation than Tweeds and being closer to the water it floods over at times,Tweeds runway does not. There's more, Sikorsky Airport is closer to the New York airports flight paths. You cannot expand what you don't have, Sikorsky Airport lost airline service and its terminal many years ago and its service was provided by prop planes no longer in service whereas Tweed has continually maintained airline service for decades.
Well that took less than a day to outline the major differences between the two airports. Let's see how long the state study will take and how much it will cost to arrive at the same above outlined facts that took less than a day.
Kind of sad that some government official makes a statement without even checking the basic facts that are readily available to anyone, but it's being done many times over the course of a day.