As Pressure Grows to Close Hartford-Brainard Airport, Sides in Debate See Different Path to Economic Development for the Century-Old Airfield

As political pressure to close Hartford-Brainard Airport mounts, those who want the century-old airfield to stay open say it could become a strong economic driver all its own, attracting new businesses that help revitalize the city.

All the talk of potential closure, however — the latest this month as the Hartford City Council passed a resolution urging the airport’s closure in favor of redevelopment — is hurting efforts to attract more companies tied to the aviation industry, said Lindsey Rutka, who operates the Hartford Jet Center at Brainard.

Rutka, who has a long-term lease to develop land around the runway, said he’s had multiple conversations with potential companies in recent years that could propel economic development sought by the city, just in a different way.

“It is very difficult with the city and everyone else, with the lack of support and pressuring to close the airport to have these multiple and thriving businesses willing to come,” Rutka said.

He declined to name the companies he’s been in discussion with, but options range from building on electrical system repair already at Brainard to upholstery and life-preserver manufacturing and even aviation insurance, Rutka said.

But those who are pushing to close the airport see a bigger, regional economic prize: 200 acres prime for redevelopment into housing, entertainment, retail and commercial space and a marina.

The Hartford City Council’s resolution urging a shutdown of Brainard is non-binding, but its members unanimously joined Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, who first campaigned in 2015 on closing the airport, and state Sen. John W. Fonfara, D- Hartford, an outspoken advocate of closure.

Hartford City Councilman James Sanchez said it’s past time for a change in the use of the airfield.

“It is in the best interest of the city of Hartford and the Greater Hartford community, for environmentally-friendly, economic opportunities that will create hundreds, if not thousands of jobs, and we can enjoy our natural resource, which is the Connecticut River,” James Sanchez, the Hartford city councilman who sponsored the closure resolution, said.

Statistics from the Connecticut Airport Authority, which oversees operations at Brainard, paint a sobering picture of the decline in activity at the same airport where Charles Lindbergh launched his 1927 heroes tour after making his transatlantic flight.

Between 2010 and 2020, the annual number of take-off and landings declined by 30%, falling from 71,009 to 49,549, according to the CAA.

Sanchez said there also is now a move to build grassroots support for a closure, as a petition circulates in Hartford among neighborhood revitalization zone organizations, town committees and other community groups.

At the heart of the issue is that Brainard, operated by the quasi-public Connecticut Airport Authority, is largely exempt from local property taxes, barely bringing in $400,000 a year to city coffers. With redevelopment, property taxes could rise to $1.6 million annually, by some estimates, if the airport were in private hands.

Fonfara says the issue is bigger because redevelopment could attract more people — especially young people sought out by employers — to move to not only Hartford but surrounding towns.

Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration said it has a goal of doubling the population of Hartford and other cities in the state, and this would be a step in the right direction, Fonfara said. But it also would benefit the suburbs, he said.

People “will want to live in the region because people can point to this that this is something that you can do here, besides working 9-to-5, whether you are working at home or working at the office,” Fonfara said.

An even larger economic development opportunity for the area may rest in combining the airport property with the neighboring trash burning plant, which is being shut down in 2022, Fonfara said. The cost of environmental cleanup, however, could present a high hurdle in moving forward.

There are no formal plans, but some have been drawn up in the past two decades. Redevelopment would likely take years.

The future of this latest push to close Brainard — an issue debated ever since the 1950s, when a large runway at the airport was taken for redevelopment into what is now Brainard Road — is uncertain.

The CAA, which also oversees four other general aviation airports in the state and the much larger Bradley International Airport, said it does not intend to petition the Federal Aviation Administration to close the airport.

The CAA’s top executive said the CAA does not have millions of dollars it would likely cost, including repaying federal grants, conducting a study to determine if Brainard has outlived its usefulness and the likelihood of claims that would result from tenants who have leases at the airport.

“I certainly recognize the city’s concern here,” Dillon said. “It’s a large piece of property in the city of Hartford, and they are not deriving the tax revenue or the return that they think they should. So, I’m not going to dispute that feeling on their part.”

But Dillon said the CAA has studies that show Brainard does contribute economically to the region. One legislative study in 2016, pegged $43 million in statewide economic activity annually and more than 100 private sector jobs at the airport itself, and recommended future investment.

Critics point to Brainard’s annual operating losses of up to about $500,000, not counting capital contributions from the state that can vary widely year-to-year. But proponents of the airport say operating losses at small airports are not uncommon and are covered by revenue from the federal jet fuel tax.

To make the airport a stronger economic catalyst, the city would have to work with the CAA on reaching a resolution on tree removal and trimming to meet FAA requirements for taking off and landing as well as an extension of the runway.

“It’s got to be one or the other, right?” Dillon said. “Either you have to work with us to try to use this as an economic asset for company relocation and company retention, or, OK, let’s sit down and talk about what is going to be the future of Brainard Airport with the full understanding that the CAA is not in a position to close it.”

Dillon said one alternative could be the state condemning the property, but that, too, would be a costly undertaking.

Those who oppose Brainard say it is mostly the domain of recreational users. And while that is partly true — there are three flight schools based at the airport — Rutka said the generalization ignores other functions of the airport.

Brainard is a hub for public safety aircraft, including homeland security; it is integral to the transport of organ donations; and it is often a stop for performers at such venues as the Xfinity Theater, Rutka said.

Marc Diwinsky, president of the 36-member Connecticut Flight Club, based at Brainard, said it isn’t practical to simply relocate the smaller single- and twin-engine airplanes to Bradley, just 15 miles away in Windsor Locks. For one, it is much more expensive.

“Bradley is too busy,” Diwinsky said. “There is just too much going on there.”

Diwinsky said Brainard also is just the right size for air transportation that may seem fanciful right now — air taxis, electric-powered airplanes, even flying cars. (A flying car is being developed and tested in Europe.)

Alternatives to more traditional modes of transportation may make it easier to commute longer distances by air in the future but still live in the Hartford area, Diwinsky said.

“Eventually, we are going to have flying cars, other ways of getting around, and airports are going to be a vital asset, Diwinsky said. “You’re not just going to take off in your yard.”

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be contacted at [email protected].

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