At the heart of the Airport Authority's mission is a responsibility to see that Tweed meets the needs of the public. As part of the FAA mandated master plan process, we have identified both the nature and the scale of those needs. Based on our ticket-lift studies, we know that our region's travelers travel most to hubs falling within a thousand mile radius of Tweed. This information informs and directs the details of improvements we are seeking for Tweed. The results of the research are consistent with practical experience.
Regional airports are analogous to interchanges on the interstate highway system.
During the construction of the nation's interstate highway system connecting major urban centers, interchanges were placed to allow access to the highways. The economies of communities near the interchanges tended to prosper, while communities off the interstate network declined. Today, the same issue of connectivity to national markets centers on air connections. If the state and our region can muster support to improve Tweed facilities to the point where it can meet the documented needs of our residents, Tweed and the Southern Connecticut region can learn from transportation lessons from an earlier era, and secure its place in the emerging East Coast and Midwest economic expansion. One of the few things economists agree on is the notion that the economy runs in cycles.