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CAA: Airport News, "Schumer: FAA poised to approve Stewart privatization"
Thursday, March 16, 2000
Schumer: FAA poised to approve Stewart privatization
By Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) Federal officials are poised to allow Stewart International
Airport to privatize, Sen. Charles Schumer said Thursday.
The Federal Aviation Administration approval is the final regulatory hurdle
needed to complete the deal for the Newburgh airport. Stewart would then
become the first airport in the nation to privatize under a new FAA pilot
program.
Schumer made the announcement Thursday after speaking with FAA administrator
Jane Garvey.
''While there are two remaining issues to be finalized before the agreement
is signed, they are minor and the FAA expects that by tomorrow,'' Schumer,
D-N.Y., said.
FAA spokeswoman Marcia Adams said the review of the plan was expected to be
completed Friday, although she declined to say whether the approval would
take place then as well.
Schumer said the deal would fuel economic growth in the Mid-Hudson Valley.
Under the agreement, National Express Group, a subsidiary of a British
transportation company, will lease the airport from the state for 99 years.
NEC's parent company already operates two airports in England. It will be
able to run the airport 60 miles north of New York City as it wishes within
regulations.
The deal was negotiated by the Pataki administration and recently received
an okay from state Comptroller H. Carl McCall.
New York state will get $35 million plus 5 percent of the gross after 10
years or 1.38 million passengers, whichever comes first.
NEC has promised more aggressive promotion of the airport which has seen
passenger departures drop by about 25 percent over two years to 305,509 last
year. Critics have contended the state's lack of marketing had contributed
to the drop.
The company also wants to attract more cargo traffic and new passenger
carriers, including low-cost carriers.
Stewart was used as a flight training area for cadets at nearby West Point
before serving as a U.S. Air Force base from 1948 to 1969, when the state
took ownership. Scheduled passenger flights began departing from Stewart in
1990.
Three other airports have been accepted into the FAA pilot program: Brown
Field in San Diego, Niagara Falls International Airport and Rafael Hernandez
Airport in Puerto Rico.
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