Traffic flows smoothly into Bradley International Airport as the midday uptick begins, an ideal time to look at the airport's hopes for a casino to liven things up a bit and bring in some dollars.
If the Connecticut Airport Authority has its way, Bradley will become the first airport in the nation to open a casino on premises, not across the street, but alongside the terminals, or maybe right smack in a terminal building itself.
Is that a good idea? These days, Bradley offers a relaxed scene, not the madness of, say, Philadelphia or LaGuardia, or even Cleveland. "My little airport," as one longtime employee of a Bradley-based business called it.
The calmness is good and bad. Convenient, but not the signal to travelers that they've arrived at a real metro area. There's plenty of excess capacity, as Kevin Dillon, the authority's executive director, puts it.
"With the casino, it could become a bit chaotic," said Tracey Tracey, a Granby resident returning from Miami at noon Tuesday with a friend, both tanned, wearing white. Like several people I spoke with, Tracey — yes, she married a guy named Tracey — has mixed feelings.No one wants added congestion, and let's face it, even a well-designed casino will bring nontraveler traffic right to the terminal doors. But these days, airports are scrambling to raise revenues from sources other than aviation, so they can expand without raising taxes, or reduce gate leases and landing fees for airlines.The airlines, in turn, would be that much more likely to add flights, precious seats that are the lifeblood of a midsize airport, making the whole region more attractive. If the airlines respond to lower costs with lower fares, so much the better."If it helps Connecticut, I'm for it," Tracey said.Adding to the allure is the fact that Bradley is now tearing down the ancient Murphy Terminal and rebuilding. That side of the airport will house more parking, public transit and a building for rental car agencies, and eventually, a new terminal.And maybe, a casino — midsize, like Bradley itself — with 2,000 or so slot machines, some table games and all the bells and whistles that add up to the range of a $200 million project.The airport authority is one of five property owners or municipalities — in Windsor Locks, East Hartford, Hartford and East Windsor — that pitched a plan for a new, state-sanctioned casino to compete against the much larger MGM Springfield development just up I-91.By Dec. 15, the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans hope to pick a winner. They will jointly run the casino — if the state legislature and the governor approve the deal, and if a lawsuit by MGM is resolved, and if the host town signs on (Windsor Locks selectmen voted no but will have a post-election do-over), and if lenders agree to cough up huge bucks for a casino in a part of the world that's getting very saturated with gambling.Lots of big ifs. The casino absolutely will not be the economic boon its backers hope to see, and it's not the sort of long-term development Connecticut needs. But it will bring jobs for a few years and probably at least break even.The region's airport would seem the nuttiest location imaginable. Other bids have much to offer, including a glitzy plan across from Rentschler Field in East Hartford and a spot with great I-91 access in East Windsor — both at vacant former Showcase Cinemas sites.The whole point of an airport, besides pitting Starbucks against Dunkin' Donuts, is to move millions of people safely in and out of a funnel with as little fuss as possible. A casino doesn't help that cause and could hurt it.It's also one thing for the state to sanction a casino, and quite another to actually build it, using a quasi-public agency that competes against private developers.Finally, there's a moral piece: Some folks strongly oppose gambling, and that's fine, they don't have to go to a casino or help pay for one. They do have to go to the airport if they live around here and fly.Despite all this, it's hard to find anyone in the airport business who opposes the idea publicly."It's kind of cutting edge that Bradley is thinking about it and going ahead with it," said Kim Kenville, professor of airport management at the University of North Dakota, a well-known program. "If Grandma and Grandpa can come to the airport a couple of hours in advance to pick you up and spend some time in the casino, then it's a win-win for everyone."It's not a financial win for Grandma unless she beats the odds, but that raises another issue: Bradley is not a hub, where travelers from across the country have layovers and time to kill. Sure, the airport's 6 million passenger trips a year bring people, but those aren't necessarily the ones who will gamble."My guess is that the majority of casino visitors would have no intention of getting on a flight during that visit," said Seth Young, head of aviation studies at The Ohio State University and author of a textbook on airport planning now in its sixth edition."It doesn't seem to me that it would be in any way incompatible with airport operations because airports as a whole welcome other types of activity that could create traffic," he said.The authority's board voted 7-0 to put in a bid, with two state commissioners and state Treasurer Denise Nappier abstaining to remain neutral. That board includes a giant of the industry, Robert Aaronson of Greenwich, who has run the three metro New York airports, the Air Transport Association and the Airports Council International.Karen Jarmoc of Enfield, a former state representative and member of the authority board, supports the idea in part because unlike the plan for Enfield Square mall that didn't advance, it's away from neighborhoods.Even Sen. Timothy Larson, D-East Hartford, who sponsored the bill authorizing a site search, and whose district includes two competing plans, said the airport is worth considering. Larson, executive director of the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority, is neutral because the Senate must vote on the final plan."Every town wins if we can find the right location," Larson said, adding that Bradley has the infrastructure in place and could use casino construction to save on a new terminal or transportation center.Dillon, the authority's executive director, has done a great job of expanding flights and services while keeping prices down at Bradley. "We know that what we're selling at the airport is convenience and you can rest assured that we're not going to do anything to jeopardize that," he said.Things are going in the right direction at Bradley. Dillon was clear that a casino is "certainly not a make-or-break for the airport," and that a successful casino wouldn't lead to dramatic changes in airport fees.
He should be commended for creative thinking. But the law of unintended consequences says put the casino someplace else. MGM Springfield, ironically, will do plenty to help Bradley.
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