"Stewart: New York's fourth major airport?"

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Commentary
A fourth major airport? 
By BOB BAIRD
The Rockland (NY) Journal News


A little more than 25 years ago, when American hostages returned after 444
days of captivity in Iran, their flight home landed at Stewart Air Force
Base near Newburgh.

Back then, the terminal was little more than an old military Quonset hut - a
prefabricated building with a curved, corrugated metal roof.

There was some limited freight transport service then, but the hostages were
probably the only non-military passengers to land there that year.

Since then, the airport has grown. There's a modern terminal, albeit much
smaller than at the metro area's other airports.

At times, the service has expanded, too.

But carriers have come and gone and routes have been added and dropped.

In a lot of ways, the airport has been an afterthought for air passengers in
and around Rockland.

Truth is, it doesn't need to be that way. But with ever-changing commercial
carriers, limited flights and destinations that changed when airlines came
and left, Stewart has usually been way down on any traveler's list of
departure points.

Over the next decade or so, that could change.

Just Tuesday, officials from U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer on down gathered for
the announcement that a new carrier will be flying in and out of Stewart
come January. AirTran Airways, a budget carrier, will be flying daily to
Atlanta and several points in Florida.

Everyone - Schumer, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef and
officials of the airline and the airport - is hoping that this will be the
beginning of Stewart's emergence.

For that to happen, Stewart and AirTran are going to have to do a lot of
marketing to make people aware that the Orange County airport that's less
than an hour from anywhere in Rockland is once again an option.

Make that an attractive option. As the New York area's three major jetports
get closer and closer to handling their maximum traffic, it's getting to be
less fun fighting traffic to Kennedy or LaGuardia. Newark Liberty, which
used to be a great, quick alternative for Rockland travelers, is getting to
be just as much of a trial to get to and get in and out of.

Westchester County Airport works for some. There's more commercial traffic
there than at Stewart, but it's always faced limits on its hours of
operation and the volume of traffic it can handle. Although the airport
there is further along in its development than Stewart, neighbors in
Westchester and nearby Connecticut have always argued against its expansion.
They just don't want it to become the area's fourth major airport.

Not so with Stewart.

Even back in the Quonset hut days, there was talk of a direct rail
connection to help attract some of the Rockland, Bergen and even Westchester
travelers away from the other jetports and make Stewart a more attractive
departure point for them.

For a long time, those who support restoration of passenger service on the
old West Shore rail line argued that it could eventually make a connection
to Stewart - perhaps even a high-speed connection.

But now, with mass transit virtually assured to be a component of a new
Tappan Zee Bridge project, it may be commuter rail across the Hudson that
provides that connection.

Just this week, Al Samuels, president of the Rockland Business Association
and Nyack architect Jan Degenshein visited the newspaper to make a case for
two-way commuter rail as the favored mass transit option. Both say that the
ability of New York City residents to reach employment in Rockland is just
as important - maybe more so - than providing a one-seat ride to Manhattan
for Rockland residents.

Having that reverse commute option, they argue, would bring in the work
force that's needed to fuel the next round of economic development here. It
would fill a staffing need expressed by companies that would like to
relocate to Rockland and for those that consider leaving because they can't
find the help they need.

But both business leaders also see commuter rail across the Tappan Zee
possibly providing a more direct rail link to Stewart than is available now.

At the AirTran announcement Tuesday, Vanderhoef called Stewart the
"linchpin" for the future of the Hudson Valley. If that's true, from this
vantage point, that would make frequent, quick and dependable rail service
essential. Such a "train to the plane" could make Stewart the airport of
choice for Rockland, Bergen, Westchester and even parts of New York City.

The old chicken-and-egg question remains. Will it be Stewart's need that
generates support for the rail line or will it be rail access that prompts
the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to designate Stewart as New
York's fourth major airport?

No one can crystal-ball that one as yet. But with Orange and Sullivan
counties growing rapidly and the three other airports projected to max out
their capacity in about 15 years, the future of Stewart will have to come
into focus soon.

Perhaps as much as the decision on a Tappan Zee Bridge mass transit option,
Rockland's future - in terms of transportation options, economic development
and land use - may hinge on decisions related to Stewart that have been a
quarter-century in coming.

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