Fwd: Newport News/Williamburg International Airport Flying High With 'Small Hub' Status, Free From Debt

--- Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 23:38:43 -0800 (PST)
> From: Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Newport News/Williamburg International
> Airport Flying High With 'Small Hub' Status, Free
> From Debt
> To: airport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> Newport News/Williamburg International Airport
> Flying
> High With 'Small Hub' Status, Free From Debt
> 
> Published January 11 2004
> Hampton Roads Daily Press, VA
> 
>    
> WASHINGTON -- The Newport News/ Williamsburg
> International Airport finally is winning some
> respect,
> at least among federal bureaucrats.
> 
> The Federal Aviation Administration has reclassified
> the airport as a "small hub," instead of a
> "non-hub."
> 
> "It was almost insulting to be called a non-hub, as
> though you don't exist," said James Smith, executive
> director of the Peninsula Airport Commission, which
> runs the airport. "But now we've graduated to
> 'small.'" The upgrade, he said, reflects the boom in
> passenger traffic the airport has enjoyed in recent
> years.
> 
> The number of passengers using the airport is up 55
> percent since 2000, jumping from 457,500 passengers
> to
> nearly 713,000 last year. That growth, Smith said,
> will translate into increased federal aid that
> should
> allow for construction improvements in 2005.
> 
> The airport has planned for a $3 million expanded
> baggage claim facility and a $9 million concourse
> with
> additional gates.
> 
> And even more money could be on the way soon.
> 
> An FAA authorization bill that cleared Congress last
> month includes a provision that gives the local
> airport a new chance to win federal grants for
> construction projects.
> 
> The airport had been prohibited from seeking new
> federal grants for a three-year period beginning
> last
> year, under an agreement with the FAA aimed at
> paying
> off a $7 million debt from construction of the
> terminal. 
> 
> But under a provision sponsored by Sen. George
> Allen,
> R-Va., the three-year freeze was lifted, and the
> airport will be free to apply for new grants
> beginning
> in July. The debt has been paid.
> 
> "We're very indebted to Sen. Allen," Smith said.
> "He's
> been very helpful to us."
> 
> The bill also includes a helpful provision for
> Norfolk
> International Airport.
> 
> The largest airport in Hampton Roads had been at
> risk
> of losing half of its federal aid this year - about
> $2.5 million - because it was reclassified from a
> "small" hub to a "medium" hub.
> 
> Under FAA rules, airports that impose a passenger
> facility charge, which Norfolk does, lose 50 percent
> of their federal money if they become a medium or
> large hub.
> 
> But Allen, a member of the Senate Commerce
> Committee,
> inserted a provision in the bill that exempts
> Norfolk
> from the funding restriction for one year.
> 
> "We're OK for 2005," said Kenneth R. Scott,
> executive
> director of the Norfolk Airport Authority. 
> 
> Although the exemption is good for only a year,
> Norfolk's ranking often fluctuates between a "small"
> and "medium" hub, and passenger traffic in 2003 was
> relatively flat, Scott said. By 2006, he said,
> Norfolk
> might once again be classified as a "small" hub,
> thereby avoiding a loss of revenue.
> 
> The airport, which serves about 1.7 million
> passengers
> a year, is planning a $6.5 million renovation of its
> terminal to provide more space for baggage screening
> and improved concourse lighting.
> 
> FRIENDS OF DEAN?
> 
> It's official: Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Newport News,
> formally was named chairman last week of Democrat
> Howard Dean's presidential campaign in Virginia.
> 
> But one of Scott's first campaign acts angered the
> Virginia staff of a Dean rival, Sen. John Kerry of
> Massachusetts.
> 
> Scott's organization circulated a list of 116
> alleged
> Dean supporters in Virginia, including a bevy of
> local
> elected officials.
> 
> Ross A. Mugler, the Hampton commissioner of revenue,
> was listed twice, once as being from Hampton and
> once
> from Newport News. In fact, Mugler said he is a
> Kerry
> supporter, although Dean is his second choice. "It's
> bothersome because it lists one of our prominent
> supporters," said Susan Swecker, Kerry's state
> director. Scott said he would review the list to
> ensure there are no misrepresentations.
> 
> "The communication we had with Ross led us to
> believe
> we could use his name," Scott said. "If there was a
> misunderstanding, we'll take his name off."
> 
> Another name on the Dean list, Benjamin Lambert IV,
> also was listed twice, first as being from Farmville
> and then from Richmond. Hampton City Councilman
> Turner
> M. Spencer appeared on the list as "Spencer Turner."
> "We're going to check back and reconfirm all the
> names," Scott said.
> 
> Despite the name flap, Scott said, support for Dean
> continues to grow in Virginia. A recent Mason-Dixon
> poll found Dean leading the nine Democratic
> candidates
> in the Feb. 10 primary.
> 
> The primary likely will pit Scott's forces against
> those of former Rep. L.F. Payne of Nelson County,
> who
> is heading up the Virginia campaign of retired Gen.
> Wesley Clark. 
> 
> 

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