AOPA issues urgent call to support Hartford-Brainard Airport
AOPA urges Connecticut members to speak up against a bill currently under consideration by the state legislature that aims to phase out Hartford-Brainard Airport by starving it of further funds.
The proposed bill would ultimately force the state to violate federal grant obligations by preventing the Connecticut Airport Authority from making safety and infrastructure investments, and jeopardize the roughly $59 million in annual economic impact generated by operating the airport, which has served the region for more than a century.
In response, AOPA has been working with local pilots, tenants, and friends of the airport to establish the Hartford Brainard Airport Association and defend the historic field. In its latest call to action, AOPA warns of the consequences should the bill pass, including setting in motion a state-funded study to repurpose the airport land for non-aeronautical development.
The bill is expected to be debated on the Connecticut Senate floor in the coming days.
To ensure this bill does not hurt Hartford-Brainard Airport, please contact your local state legislators in the House and Senate. Identify yourself as a resident of the district and urge them to strike lines 32 through 36 from paragraph D of Section 1 in Senate Bill 463.
