43-Year Tweed Lease, Expansion Deal OK’d

Great news....those in charge will probably have to pay off East Haven (which is why they are protesting). Just get it over with and move on with bringing our area into the modern world.

In addition to the Cove, the residents of Fair Haven and Fair Haven Heights bear the brunt of the that expansion has already had and will continue to have, based on tonight's vote. Unsurprisingly, Downtown, Westville, and East Rock -- landslide Elicker voter territory -- not as much.

Fantastic news for New Haven County and surroundings areas. For too long people haven stood in the way of progression. Great job by Mr Scanlon and team for finally getting the ball rolling and thanks to Avelo for giving us the opportunity when others failed(on purpose) Im very excited for this and will definitely be in attendance for the opening of The new Tweed HVN airport. Lets gooooooo!!!!

I support an extended runway and new terminal, however I am concerned by the East Haven mayor's experience that the lease was not given to Board members or to East Haven with enough time to review. I trust that the lease agreement is the same as from 1 year ago, but I do understand that the details need to be reviewed. I hope that the Airport Authority and East Haven have had good communication, but from the media reports of the past few days this does not seem like good collaboration. Let this be a big bump in the road, but not something that blocks this project. The Airport Authority and East Haven need to build trust and get back on good terms, so we can make this work. Maybe a true, mediated retreat with East Haven Mayor and Director Scanlon is the best next step to try and to a reset on the trust and to take stock of where the plan stands. Someone like the SCSU president who seems to connect with both and has some street credibility as a neighbor, or someone else who has a relationship and trust with both parties, someone like that to mediate might just be what is needed.

Just want to say that flying out of Tweed is awesome!

The other day I left home fifty-five minutes before departure. Twelve minutes to the airport, eight more to go through security, fifteen minutes to grab a coffee and croissant from G-Cafe.

It’s now 4.5 hours door-to-door to visit my aging mom in Florida, where it used to be 7 hours. And usually much cheaper! Altogether, I’m very grateful to Scanlon for bringing Avelo to Tweed.

Shame on NH Alders and Mayor. Shame on Yale. To let a predator like Goldman Sachs into the henhouse to crush and dominate....Why not invoke eminent domain and clear out the whole area once and for all? It will be less painful than watching residents plead and beg for themselves, the environment, and the economic interests of the city. Or is it that you need the tax money and a captive population to support the schemes, rather than clear the area and make it safe.. slap East Haven around, then give them some money to shut up
Remember that Yale is NOT New Haven. Their interests are not the same as resident interests. Buy our houses and let us go. Residents-- sell and go elsewhere while the market is good. Why doesn't YALE buy us all out since it is such a good deal?

The terminal will need a building permit from East Haven. But this is what my lawyer friends refer to as a ministerial act. If the terminal complies with the State Building Code, the town building official must grant the permit. The expansion will also likely be subject to review by East Haven’s Inland Wetlands Commission.

The expansion will also need a variety of state and federal approvals. In addition to environmental and aviation-related permits. I suspect the expansion will be considered a major traffic generator under CGS § 14-311, due to the garage. The state must consult with the Local Traffic Authority in deciding whether, and under what conditions, to grant this permit required under this statute. The local building official can’t grant a building permit without it.

LookOut, I know some of the people leading the opposition to the expansion. They are doing so for bona fide policy reasons. I doubt that they will succeed, but ad hominem attacks are inappropriate.

@CityYankee2 "Why not invoke eminent domain and clear out the whole area once and for all? It will be less painful than watching residents plead and beg for themselves, the environment, and the economic interests of the city." Homes near Tweed are selling, why stay when a few are unhappy? Don't make these few to be helpless victims, they have the option of selling and ending their perceived pain and for those who have been have been here for a while, be able to turn a nice profit. Bottom line, Tweed is a commercial airport and is doing nothing illegal and the flights are supported by tens of thousands. Time for the few bitter souls to move on and let the vast majority enjoy a nearby airport. Please lose the Yale excuse, its everyday people who use Tweed as it always has been. Its time to come to grips with reality, Tweed is staying and providing what many want, low fares from a nearby airport. P.S. Remember our agreement about who will admit if Tweed is a success or failure? We are closing in on one year of Avelo's flights. 2022 will be a record setting year at Tweed for total passenger numbers.

Our son is flying in to Tweed from Chicago, for the weekend. We are thrilled with this connection, and now I wish they would reestablish a connection to Cincinnati (I know, it is a Delta hub), which was a lifesaver when my elderly parents were failing: hours saved in time on interstate highways.

@CityYankee2 "Residents-- sell and go elsewhere while the market is good." Amen to that, we are on the same page. When the few are gone, the moaning and groaning will be gone and everybody can adapt to the new surroundings.

Henry Luzzi proved that an East Haven mayor can cooperate with Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport and STILL get reelected.
Mayor Joe Carfora can learn from that.
He can also learn from Mayor Tony Proto's letting Canadair (now Bombardier) slip through the town's fingers. The aircraft maker wanted to locate in the town's industrial park, their only request being that Tweed extend the runway. Proto said "no," and off to Windsor Locks they went.
Today, Bombardier is one of the biggest employers in Windsor Locks.
And who's one of East Haven's biggest employers? The Board of Education.
If the mayor is going to backpedal on his announcement from last May 6th, declaring that East Haven labor and businesses will be involved in the construction, well that's on him.
But, in their quest for new business tenants, proclaiming that "East Haven is open for business," I would hope every prospective business will inquire about the airport's status.
And you can bet the farm town officials WON'T be saying, "We're opposed to it, but hey, Bradley is only 52 miles away!"
Shame on you, Mayor Carfora. You let fifty people determine the economic destiny of thirty thousand.
And you have stabbed organized labor in the back.

CY2 and Steve, reasonable people disagree on best to balance the city's economic and environmental interests. But the environmental issues surrounding the expansion are real, and would not go away with the use of eminent domain. Not to mention that it is not clear that the city or authority have condemnation power in this context (see a very thorough memo on municipal eminent domain powers by my former supervisor, https://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0193.htm). The authority has a broad range of powers under CGS Sec. 15-120j. These include the power to purchase or lease, but not condemn, property.

43 Year lease. Any one making bet on the over under for construction starts on the new terminal? 5 years for litigation, maybe 10? Final Completion another 5? Question, is there a non-compete or agreement that no other airlines can come into Tweed? The next fight of course will be road access, currently the main route is via Townsend, Hemingway is an alternate but there needs to be a straighter road in from the east side. I would like to see some statistics on how travelers arrive to Tweed, Car service, friends or family drop off, mass transit, hotel shuttle or drive and park.

At the expense of 100s of thousands of peoples peace, quiet, and air quality (including those in East Haven, East Shore, East Rock, Fair Haven, and Newhallville...all below the flight paths) UNITE backed alders have stuck once again feathered organized labors bed, looking for a with a quid pro quo during the next Yale contract negotiations and creating a mere handful of union jobs in the process. Thanks a lot BOA.

To sweeten the deal, the state should set aside $500 million to bring back a modernized version of the high-frequency streetcar system that used to run from downtown New Haven out to the East Haven Green, and then down Hemingway Avenue to where the new airport terminal will be located. East Haven would get an almost unimaginably large economic boost from a modern light rail line to downtown combined with a world-class airport. The other end of the line could run out to West Haven and Milford.

"UNITE backed alders have stuck once again feathered organized labors bed, looking for a with a quid pro quo during the next Yale contract negotiations and creating a mere handful of union jobs in the process. Thanks a lot BOA." care to share any evidence for your litany of barely cogent assertions?

Sure sounds like to me that you like living in the CITY of new haven, while pretending its rural CT. If the sound from godforbid... 20 planes a day... bothers you, I might suggest buying an even bigger house just a few miles outside of town.


Yale or not, this is a smart economic plan. Normally I hear you railing about increased taxes. More successful tourist biz, more people willing to live here, and more biz-to-biz economic growth all seem to hit at your #1 issue.

For throwing a lot of grenades, I've yet to hear your solution.

This is amazing news!! It has been awesome picking up friends and family flying into Tweed instead of me trekking down to the City or up to Hartford..
I am sympathetic to those who live in close proximity to the airport, however the airport has been there since 1931. So the thought was it would NEVER expand and grow?

I have used Avelo, great service at a reasonable price - far better than NY. We are lucky to have them, and they will get more of my business. However, the airport itself desperately needs modernization. Tweed requires a massive upgrade, and a $100 million private investment is exactly what it needs instead of millions of taxpayer dollars being used to keep an old antiquated airport open, or have we all forgotten that?

When you purchase a home around an airport, you almost always do so at a significant discount to other neighborhoods in the region due to activity \ noise \ and pollution, etc. Tweed has been there since 1930, so it is disingenuous to argue that an airport \ airline can't expand its services when that is exactly the business model of an airport (and it has done so in the past). Historically Tweed was much noisier and more polluted when it had far more daily flights (with much smaller aircraft) that sent black smoke bellowing out of their prop exhausts, not to mention private aircraft.

It is also disingenuous to say that East Haven will not benefit from more economic development in the region; major employers (like Yale, Lockheed etc) employ many people from the region (including East Haven), and expanded air routes to business hubs will help promote growth for everyone, including East Haven - where commercial real estate is less expensive compared to New Haven.

I suggest the taxpayers of East Haven have an up or down vote before filing any lawsuit. Also - remember those suits go both ways - especially if damages from delays can be proven by a developer (look no further than Hartford) to see how well-meaning politicians got their city into legal trouble by causing project delays. I am sure the environmental impact has been considered, and compromises or mitigation of environmental risk is possible - again, this is not a large airport with hundreds of daily flights all over the world; it is a very small regional airport.

There are no serious environmental concerns here. Those claims are a cover for those who oppose the expansion on other grounds but realize their actual objections sound weak. Everyone understands this.

Blue states have got to relearn how to build if we want a better future.

CityYankee2 "it will be a COLD day in Hell when NH taxes go down because of the great Tweed Airport scheme. That is something I would bet my life on. Taxes will NEVER go down again in New Haven." Taxes never go down and you must know this and don't blame Tweed. Your default setting is to have nothing good to say about Tweed, is there anything positive you can say about Tweed? How can so many people like the service Avelo provides and yet it does not resonate with you? Do you see the benefit it provides many thousands are getting from having a nearby airport? Any project has its pluses and minuses and Tweed has the vast majority of shoreline residents behind the new service. Again, do you see any pluses, even one involving Tweed? Think about this before you reply. It may involve becoming more open minded and looking through the eyes of others. Thanks.

Esbey, airport operations and travel to/from the airport will increase noise levels and emissions of traditional pollutants such particulate matter in the immediate vicinity of the airport (not my neighborhood, FWIW). The added air travel will increase CO2 emissions. And the runway extension will destroy existing wetlands. You can plausibly argue that the expansion's (real) economic benefits outweigh these harms. But you can't argue that the environmental concerns aren't serious.

Too bad some of you commentators didn't hear the testimony from residents last night at the Tweed Board of Directors meeting. A doctor said that most of us would agree the health and safety of our families and our children are the most important things to us and yet increased air traffic means more noise, more pollution, more traffic and a decrease in the quality of life for many residents.

Along with Avelo’s bird strikes rupturing coastal migratory routes I’ve also noticed Goldman-Sachs’ Tweed blasting Roundup (many states/cities have already banned glyphosate application) from a water canon all around their property and how there are now fewer and fewer butterflies in the Cove. Now that the Mayor has done the bidding of Yale SOM and hedge fundies at the expense of our environment when does he start talking out of the other side of his mouth about Greening New Haven? Here’s hoping their blight airport continues sinking into the flood plain it’s built on…

Patricia, one rather small point. Board and commission members whose term has expired continue to serve until their successor is nominated and approved The appointing authorities for the Board should ensure that it is at full strength. But I strongly suspect that its action was legal.

Here we go again! Great news that Tweed is finally expanding as it will allow area residents -- including those from East Haven -- to get anywhere in the country relatively easily by connecting to a hub city. I'm sympathetic to those who live near the airport, but as has been said many times, the airport's been there since 1931. Those folks chose to buy next to an airport. They assumed the airport would never expand or it would disappear into irrelevance over time. They were wrong. By all means do what's possible and reasonable during the expansion to suppress noise, improve safety, etc. But expanding the airport seems like a settled issue for all but a small group. Perhaps a poll of residents within a 25 mile radius would provide further insight? Hopefully it puts an end to the narrative that this is only about Yale and New Haven against East Haven.

@CityYankee2, One thing I can tell you is that airlines will not tolerate money losing routes. High fuel costs have been tough on all of us including airlines and industry news shows airlines dropping routes and even cities all together. Avelo has cut some routes from their Burbank base but not Tweed. Tweed has the highest number of cities served on the Avelo route map and no cities have been cut. What surprised me was the demand for Orlando flights with some days having 3 flights and other Florida flights doing well. Avelo has found a sweet spot at Tweed and Tweeds passenger numbers are so far this year 250,000 with a prediction of 300,000 by years end.
The best year prior to 2022 was 1992 when United was at Tweed with 132,000. Some in the past have said no market for air travel exists on the shoreline but that has proved to be a fallacy. 2023 should be even higher since some flights were added after the beginning of 2022. More passengers mean more income but I do not have the numbers. We both wait but by all appearances Tweed is doing better than it ever has. People are supporting the new flights and keeping travelers spending in the local area, not Windsor Locks.

@Steve: thanks for the passenger data — really interesting. 2023 numbers will also be helped if Avelo implements the New Haven-San Juan route that was announced. I don’t see that as a money-losing route.

@CityYankee2 "New Haven is still one of the biggest ports in New England, after Boston and Portsmouth. I think the port is doing what it can and the development of the shore should not interfere with the port. Tweed is not manufacturing anything. Those building jobs will be gone once the improvements are completed." Like all construction jobs, when finished, move on to the next project, Tweed is no different. In some ways you are yearning for the good ole days, but they are gone. Winchester, A.C Gilbert, High Standard, Malley's are fond memories but gone forever. Tweed for years was labeled as a loser but changes in air travel such as more efficient planes, low cost airlines, regional jets have made it possible for Tweed to thrive. It was a matter of the airline industry catching up with Tweed, not Tweed catching up with the airlines.

@Steve Brooklyn, if one looks back over the years, East Haven had a default setting of saying no to any Tweed project. such as an on airport fire station and an instrument landing system, both safety projects, not expansion. Had that instrument landing system been in operation, it might have prevented the crash of an Allegheny plane that took many lives.
For years people kept moving into Tweed's neighborhood and bellyaching about the airport that they knew existed. Finally the SCOTUS has cleared the way for Tweed to add to it's runway while staying inside it's property lines. The shoreline has supported the new flights by breaking passenger yearly totals, so far 250,000 passengers and at the end of the year it should be 300,000. The majority of the local population wants and uses the Avelo service and Tweed is Avelo's busiest airport on it's route map.
To the few who moan and groan, adapt to the new normal as many are doing or put up the For Sale sign.

By the way folks, we now hear the planes in East Rock as we are in the flight path. That's probably not going to change anytime soon. No matter though. Keep the airport out of East Haven and do what you have to do to buy up properties in New Haven, it's as simple as that. I have no interest entering a terminal in East Haven, I'd rather travel to JFK - seriously.

@Kevin McCarthy "And the runway extension will destroy existing wetlands." Sean Scanlon has said in the past the wetlands will be increased. He has not divulged how this will happen but I have my own thoughts on how this can be accomplished, however, I will withhold my comment until the airport gives it's plans. It is doable and will not involve taking land beyond Tweed's property lines.

@orangestreetfan - keeping the airport out of East Haven is going to be difficult/impossible considering that half the airport is ALREADY in East Haven." The terminal and parking are in New Haven and most of the runway also is in New Haven. A small section of the northern part of the runway is in East Haven.