VALUE OF RURAL AIRPORTS

Determining the economic value of transportation infrastructure is an inexact science. What local businesses do not expand because the roads are bumpy and winding, and shipping products to market takes longer and costs more? Which business did not choose to relocate here because there was no regular rail service? It’s very hard to pin down those sort of stories.

But getting from here to there, and from there to here, is an essential component of a region’s economy, even if it is only understood when the transportation link is broken, as was the case when the Waldo-Hancock Bridge was suddenly off-limit to trucks a few years ago.

An airport in Washington County capable of serving small jets may not spell prosperity for the impoverished region. But a new airport would be another connection between Down East and the wider world, and it would perhaps incrementally seed the regional economy with new visitors, residents and businesses.

The region has an opportunity to build a new airport with the Federal Aviation Administration picking up 95 percent of the cost – estimated at $10 million to $15 million – with the remaining funding split between the state Department of Transportation and the local host of the airport. There is some support, but also some opposition to the proposal. Pending state legislation would allow for creation of airport authorities, which function as quasi-municipal bodies, to own and operate airports. Several area towns could join such an authority, thereby spreading around the cost.

The current Machias area airport, and the airport in Eastport, both have runways that are too short to handle jets. And both facilities are hemmed in by water and roads, so expansion is difficult if not impossible. Neighborhoods rarely welcome airport expansions and new airports with enthusiasm. But an acceptable location likely could be found in the Machias area, perhaps five miles from the coast to reduce fog problems.

The FAA has determined that commercial airports within a half-hour drive time of populations are critical to economic vitality. Machias Town Manager Betsy Fitzgerald said 17 towns and two townships are within that 30 minute drive of the existing airport. Maine airports accessible to small jets are in Owls Head (near Rockland), Augusta, Presque Isle and Trenton (near Bar Harbor) in addition to the larger commercial airports in Portland and Bangor. Any new airport in Machias would never rival Bangor International Airport, but it might bring in small freight planes such as FedEx and UPS, private corporate jets, and the new trend in charter travel, through which users pay for jet service in a timeshare model.

Corporate jet use is the fastest growing segment of air travel, Ms. Fitzgerald said, probably because businesses don’t want executives spending extra hours going through security at large airports or dealing with flight delays.

A recent visitor to Machias, she said, illustrates the potential of a new facility. An entrepreneur flew in from Cape Cod, visited an area business he was considering buying, reboarded his plane at 12:30 p.m. and was back in his office on the Cape by 2 p.m. The flight time is about the same as the time it takes to drive from Machias to Bangor, she noted. Those sorts of connections are critical to developing the regional economy.

“How many opportunities are we missing?” Ms. Fitzgerald asks. It’s an important question for Washington County.