Sale of Bridgeport’s Sikorsky Airport to Connecticut Airport Authority Delayed Until 2023

Nov. 19—BRIDGEPORT — Officials on both sides of the negotiations admitted this week that, in part because of an environmental analysis of the Stratford-based property, the proposed sale of the city-owned Sikorsky Memorial Airport to the Connecticut Airport Authority will not move forward until at minimum early next year.

It is unclear what that means for the current municipal budget, which was balanced last spring in part with an anticipated $4 million from that deal.

The CAA's interest in buying the site became public last November, and that organization and Mayor Joe Ganim's administration had been aiming to wrap up negotiations and forward the terms to the Bridgeport City Council before 2023.

"It doesn't look probable," said Daniel Roach, a Ganim aide involved in the talks.

"I don't see anything happening before the end of the year," agreed Kevin Dillon, CAA's executive director, in a separate interview. "The first quarter of next year becomes a much more reasonable target."

Bridgeport's fiscal year ends next June 30.

Roach and Dillon blamed the delay on two issues. The first is a time-consuming audit required to set the price. Under federal guidelines, the sale of an airport is not like a regular property transaction. Bridgeport cannot make a profit, it can only recoup what the city has sunk from the municipal budget into Sikorsky to keep it running. The goal of the audit is to confirm that the total amount the CAA has offered — $10 million — is correct.

"The FAA ( Federal Aviation Administration) has to look at this audit to make a determination that they're satisfied ... the city invested at least $10 million," Dillon said.

That audit has taken longer than anticipated. The second issue is an environmental assessment of the property, which is located in Stratford, to determine if there is any significant contamination, the cost of the cleanup and then who will have to pay for it.

"It's a question of, mostly, soil-sampling," said Roach. "Determining how much damage there might be going back several years."

Although the environmental review, funded by the CAA, has not previously been widely publicized as a factor of the sale, Dillon said it is standard procedure. As for how the results might impact a Sikorsky deal, Dillon said, "It really comes down to what level of cleanup you're talking about, right?"

"If it's a de minimis amount in the context of the sale, I'm sure that's something we can work out," Dillon said. "If you end up talking millions (of dollars), we'd have to have some serious conversations about that. ... Then there's questions about known contamination in the area (and) is that the responsibility of other parties?"

The delay of the sale should not necessarily come as a surprise. While the Ganim administration was speaking optimistically about an end-of-year goal, City Council President Aidee Nieves in early October stated, "I don't see this transfer or sale of the airport happening in the next three to four months because it's been really slow."

Nieves has also indicated it will likely take time for the final sale agreement to be reviewed and voted on by the full council, currently all- Democrats like Ganim. One reason is that the administration has recently renegotiated some tenant leases there which are supposed to eliminate the operating deficit — one of the main reasons Bridgeport has wanted to unload the facility and get it off its books. So some on the council may as a result look more favorably on leasing rather than selling to the CAA.

But even council authorization will not be the end. At that point the sale would go to the FAA for final approval.

"The FAA must review a proposed transfer and determine the new airport sponsor is eligible, willing and able to perform all the obligations of existing grant agreements and federal property conveyances," that agency said in a statement. "The FAA will not approve the transfer if the new sponsor can't meet these requirements."

Dillon said he is not worried about that aspect of the process, but noted it could take a couple of additional months.

"We're a bonafide airport operator," he said, noting the CAA runs Bradley International in Windsor Locks and a handful of other Connecticut airports. "I actually believe the FAA is in favor of this sale."

The Ganim administration and the CAA have all along stated that the latter is best suited to returning regular commercial passenger service to Sikorsky, which currently caters to business, charter and private flights, and making it a more economically-successful transportation hub.

Stratford Mayor Laura Hoydick's administration has made a counter-offer to Bridgeport which thus far has been ignored. The argument by Hoydick and other proponents has been that the town will be a better steward than the upstate-based CAA. An online petition launched in support of a sale to Stratford has so far garnered over 800 signatures.

While some in Stratford back the concept of returned passenger service, the airport has been a touchy issue for years, with others opposed to anything that might make Sikorsky a more bustling facility and/or require runway extensions.

State Rep. Joseph Gresko, D- Stratford, works for Bridgeport part-time but has also been advocating for language in any contract between the city and the CAA to limit the future owner from expanding the airport and its runways beyond the current footprint.

"Which, I think, would give Stratford and Lordship (the neighborhood where Sikorsky is located) residents some piece of mind," Gresko said this week.

Toward that same end he is also pushing for Bridgeport to sell a handful of vacant unused parcels around the airport to Stratford as well.

Roach said "we're taking a look at" that suggested land deal but the legal language Gresko wants is "not something we're insisting on" during negotiations with the CAA.

Dillon said he would need a better understanding of exactly what acres Gresko is talking about, noting any parcels needed "to protect (airplane) approach and departure surfaces we would certainly require it be part of the sale." It could also prove a sticking point with the FAA, Dillon said.

As for Gresko's other proposal, Dillon responded, "We're not going into the acquisition envisioning a runway extension." He said he would like to sit down and talk with officials in Stratford to try and understand and address any concerns and gain their support for a CAA purchase.

"Maybe it's difficult for the town to have that conversation at this point because they still would like to see the potential of them taking over the airport," Dillon said. "Listen, I've been doing this a long time — 47 years in the airport business. No airport will be successful unless they can maintain good community relationships."

He noted, for example, that some potential passenger airlines could be scared away if they face constant local battles.

"I think sometimes what carriers look at is the political environmental surrounding an airport," he said. "Admittedly if an airline feels every time we look to increase activity or grow an opportunity we're going to run into political issues, that's off-putting, naturally, to an airline."

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