Pittsburgh International Airport’s woes after U.S. Airways departed is being held up as an example for Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., as it tries to recover from the loss of airlines and flights.
The New York Times looks in on Bradley’s efforts to recover from the loss of nearly 1 million airline passengers a year from 2005’s peak of 3.7 million. One of those recovery plans has nothing to do with flying. Instead it has built an airport development zone and offered economic incentives to get companies to locate in the four-town region around the airport, which is about halfway between Hartford and Springfield, Mass. One of those companies is fiber optics maker Nufern, which the Times said recently decided to expand in the airport development zone instead of moving out of state.
Where Pittsburgh comes in is as a cautionary tale about what happens when there’s too much reliance on one airline. But the article doesn’t mention plans to develop business and companies around the airport zone, which has been an effort by Allegheny County and other economic development groups.