WESTFIELD — Revenues at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport are up 40% over the past year, which had City Council Finance Committee members this week suggesting that the Airport Department could be on the path to self-sufficiency.
Airport Manager Christopher Willenborg reported at the June 12 meeting of the Finance Committee that the increase in receipts has to do with the addition of a new hangar, new leases and rental adjustments. He said the airport also hired an outside company to collect landing fees, and exceeded its anticipated income for the year.
He said at the end of 2023, takeoffs and landings were up 3% to total 54,000, and this year is trending to a 4% increase, even with very low January numbers. He said Barnes Airport is the preferred airport for University of Massachusetts Amherst athletics, and processed 3,800 student athletes, another big revenue source.
Willenborg said grants are a big part of what his team does, citing the $32 million Taxiway Bravo South project, which had a city share of 2%. He said the state Department of Transportation is also repainting a runway at a cost of $100,000, with no city share.
City Councilor Richard Sullivan congratulated Willenborg for increasing the budget he requests from the city by less than 1%, and said revenues are over $100,000 more than anticipated. He asked if there had been any discussion of the airport becoming a self-funding enterprise.
“I feel in three to five years we could be in a position to do so,” Willenborg said. He said he would want the airport to build up some savings as a safety net first, primarily because large infrastructure projects require a local share. “Once we become an enterprise fund, the council and public wouldn’t want us coming back for more,” he said.
Councilor Bridget Matthews-Kane, who chairs the Finance Committee, asked how vulnerable the airport is to an economic downturn.
Willenborg said when business aviation is impacted, such as in the repossessions of airplanes, the airport is susceptible to lost revenue. He said at the June meeting of the Airport Commission, he will request changes to the fee structure for the airport.
