Bradley Airport’s Expansion Plans Underway

Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT is known as an “easy in and out” airport among business and leisure travelers in the region, but the small and manageable reputation of Bradley may be changing in the coming years, as they recently announced plans to transform the mid-sized airport into a major New England hub.

“It’s so much more convenient to fly out of Bradley than having to go to New York or Boston if you want to go anywhere direct,” say Roberta O’Brien, of Rocky Hill. But Bradley travelers may be in for some temporary bumps, as officials unveiled a $1.4 billion expansion plan that could make Bradley competitive with the Logan’s and the Kennedy’s of the northeast. From the terminals, to the car rental lot, to the parking garage and the roads that lead to the airport, Bradley will be under construction over the next 20 years.

The expansion, in part, is taking place due to population growth in the region. “There are 4.4 million people that live within our market area so if we can keep developing the airline services here, we’ll keep bringing passengers to the airport,” said Kevin Dillon, executive director at Bradley International Airport.

“I do believe this airport could be a 10 million passenger airport so when you start to talk about the activity of that level you really need to take a hard look at the infrastructure,” Dillon said.

Some of the biggest visible changes at the new Bradley will be at the terminals. The plan is to have Terminal B connect with Terminal A. Also, a new rental car lot will be built on the property, eliminating the shuttles.

Construction under way

Locals and air travelers in and out of Bradley will already see Bradley’s plans underway, as construction has begun on the Route 20 connector road.

According the official Bradley International Airport website, the Connecticut Airport Authority is beginning the reconstruction and realignment of the main airport entrance roadway, Route 20 and Schoephoester Road. The work will involve the realignment of Schoephoester Road along with a portion of the airport’s lower roadway system, as well as the construction of a modern roundabout.

The project will provide a new entrance to the airport from Route 20 and open up a 19-acre site for the future development of Bradley’s ground transportation center.

The construction will not interrupt access to the airport from the Route 20 connector, but there may be slight delays due to the shifting and reduction of lanes. Construction signs and variable message boards will be present along the roadway to alert motorists of any changes in traffic patterns.

The project will consist of six phases of work and is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2018. Regular updates will be provided to the public during this time period.

When completed, this road expansion will improve traffic and make room for a new rental car lot.

International carriers like Aer Lingus have already broadened their flight offerings in and out of Bradley, and the expansion could make Bradley more attractive to other airlines and destinations.

“Any airport has to have the market to be attractive to the airlines and we certainly have that,” Dillon said.

While some travelers are welcoming the changes, others say they’ll miss the ease of navigating the smaller terminals. “I’d like to keep it on a smaller level. I like to fly out of Westchester just for the convenience of how small and how quick and easy it is to get in and out,” said Steve Confortini, of New Milford.

Bradley Airport officials say the goal is to keep the convenience level intact. The Federal Aviation Administration will need to approve this plan, but officials say they are confident it will be approved.

Source: Information courtesy of WFSB.com.

Airline Quality Has Improved, Study Shows

Despite some scary events and bad PR in the past year, U.S. airlines improved in overall quality last year, according to the annual Airline Quality Rating (AQR) report, released in May.

The 2018 AQR report by researchers at Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is a statistical study of major airline performance, objectively comparing airline quality.

The study indicates that as a whole, the 12 largest U.S. airlines improved their performance last year in three of the four categories tracked, making 2017 the best year for overall airline quality in the 28 years of the report. That said, the report’s authors caution the results do not necessarily mean commercial airline travel has dramatically improved in significant ways.

“The industry is improving, but there are still a lot of frustrated travelers out there,” says Brent Bowen, dean of aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and one of the report’s lead authors.

According to the Airline Quality Rating (AQR) website, the report is the most comprehensive study of performance and quality of the largest airlines in the United States. The rating is a multifactor examination of the airlines based on mishandled baggage, consumer complaints, on-time performance and involuntary denied boardings.

Overall airline industry findings

  • The 2017 score is the best AQR score in the 27-year history of the rating.
  • The industry AQR score has improved each year for the past three years (2015, 2016, and 2017).
  • Taking all 12 rated airlines together, the AQR score for the industry improved from a level of -0.95 in 2016 to -0.79 in 2017.
  • Improved performance was seen in three of the four areas tracked.

Specific areas of improvement

  • The industry mishandled baggage rate was better, decreasing from 2.70 per 1,000 passengers in 2016 to 2.46 per 1,000 passengers in 2017.
  • Involuntary denied boardings by the industry improved to 0.34 per 10,000 passengers in 2017 from 0.62 per 10,000 passengers in 2016.
  • The consumer complaint rate across the industry declined to 1.35 per 100,000 passengers in 2017 from 1.52 per 100,000 passengers in 2016.
  • The 10% decrease in the rate of consumer complaints in 2017 suggests that improved performance in important areas to consumers has been noticed.
  • Of the 11,570 complaints registered with the DOT regarding all U.S. domestic carriers, 74% were for flight problems, baggage problems, reservation, ticketing and boarding issues, or customer service problems.

Specific airline results

  • Nine airlines showed improvement in AQR scores in 2017: American, ExpressJet, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, SkyWest, Southwest, Spirit and United.
  • Frontier had the largest improvement in their AQR score in 2017.
  • Three airlines—Alaska, Delta and Virgin America—all declined in their 2017 AQR score from the previous year. Virgin America had the largest decline in AQR score for 2017.

Areas for improvement

As an industry, the AQR criteria show that on-time arrival percentage was down (80.2% in 2017 compared to 81.4% in 2016).

Other areas where airlines could improve, according to author Bowen and other researchers, include a lack of transparency in airfares, annoyances like cramped seats and extra fees for almost everything, as examples of elements of airline travel that are wearing on travelers despite the performance improvements.

Source: Airline Quality Rating (AQR) report