Wright: “more progress”
STEWART AIRPORT – James Wright has been chairman of the Stewart
Airport Commission for over 30 years and during that time, he has seen
the ebbs and flows of airline passenger service from its peak in the early
to mid 1990s to the declines after September 11, 2001.
Years later, service picked up somewhat, but has slipped back to about
one-third of what it used to be when reached one million passengers per
year in the mid-1990s.
Wright was re-elected as chairman again this past week and he took the
occasion to once again express his frustration.
“I just wish we could show more progress here in bringing in passenger
service. I think we better be a little bit more pro-active in dealing
with Port Authority. Our other Port Authority people keep us abreast of
what is being spent on buildings and runways, but we would still like
to hear something about passenger service,” Wright said.
The chairman of the advisory committee has noted in the past that Atlantic
City Airport, which the Port Authority began to manage last year, has
attracted additional service above and beyond Stewart’s growth,
or lack of it.
