T.F. Green gathering celebrates $250 million in improvement projects

WARWICK, R.I. -- Mayor Scott Avedisian never thought he’d see the day when he and a group of dignitaries would celebrate $250 million in improvement projects at T.F. Green Airport that had long been opposed by the city.

But there he was on Monday morning, addressing a crowd of close to 100 gathered beneath a tent on the airport tarmac and thanking everyone who made it possible — those who relentlessly pursued compromises and solutions as well as the federal officials, including the day’s special guest, Anthony Foxx, President Obama’s transportation secretary, who secured $110 million in aid.

“Fifteen years ago, if you told me we would all be standing here having reached consensus … I’m not sure I really would have ever thought we would all be here,” Avedisian said.

Those who attended the ceremony for the $250 million in ongoing or soon-to-begin expansion and safety projects included Foxx, FAA administrator Michael Huerta, Governor Chafee and the state’s congressional delegation.

“None of this would be possible were it not for the federal funds needed to finance these important projects. How fitting that we have this esteemed group with us today,” said Kelly Fredericks, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation.

The projects he was referring to include extending the primary runway 1,500 feet for larger, heavier planes; expanding safety areas at the ends of the secondary runway; soundproofing and buying out nearby residences; and relocating Main Avenue and the Winslow Park ballfields.

“An airport can only be competitive with the appropriate infrastructure in place,” Fredericks said.

Or, as Sen. Jack Reed put it, “You know the old line: build it and they will come. They’ve begun to build it and now they are coming.”

By that, Reed meant the announcement last week that Condor Airlines will offer non-stop flights between Green and Frankfurt, Germany, beginning next summer. It will be the first scheduled service from Green to Europe and will begin two years before the runway extension is completed.

Reed was credited by other speakers with helping secure the federal financing for the airport through his position as a chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on the interior and the environment.

With a private Cessna Citation X parked behind the tent as a backdrop and other aircraft taking off into blue skies with a scattering of puffy white clouds, one speaker after another commended the cooperation between federal, state and city authorities that was needed to balance quality of life issues in Warwick with economic development for the city and the state.

“Today we celebrate the fact that you had a vision here and that we were in a position to help,” Foxx said.

Added Huerta, “Big things are in store for T.F. Green Airport.”

One hope, certainly, is that passenger traffic numbers will finally take off. They have been down for each of the first seven months of 2014.

A total of 346,416 passengers used Rhode Island’s main airport in July, down 3 percent from a year earlier, according to the Airport Corporation. The 3-percent decline, however, was the smallest so far this year. It followed monthly drops from January to June of 5 percent, 7 percent, 6 percent, 8 percent, 8 percent and 7 percent.

For the first seven months of the year, 2014 is down 6 percent from the same period in 2013.

Speakers made no mention of any of these figures, focusing instead on the promise of improvements to the airport as well as other, already-completed transportation projects, including the railroad station on Jefferson Boulevard that is connected to Green’s terminal by a sky bridge.

Avedisian reflected on the progress that has been made since the days when proposals for airport runway improvements relied upon major alterations to city roadways that residents found objectionable.

“When you continue to come to the table, there is nothing that we can’t accomplish with open minds and good hearts and people understanding that the economic development of the city and the state is really hanging in the balance,” Avedisian said.

With airport officials having previously stated that another international carrier may soon commit to Green and that the airport is trying to lure American Airlines back to Warwick, Avedisian said, “I look forward to the next series of announcements that will really move this airport and really move this city forward.”