Business View Magazine | September 2020

193 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2020 FBO chain. They also have an MRO facility – they work on small- to mid-size business jets, and they do quite a bit of avionics installations. Also, we have a military component here with the Air National Guard and the Army National Guard. We have F-15s that sit on alert to protect the northeast of the United States. We have Blackhawk helicopters, medivac helicopters, as well as surveillance helicopters that respond to the community. We have Air Methods’ air ambulance operation based here 24/7. They’re providing emergency medical transport for trauma incidents all around western Massachusetts. And we have a diverse general aviation community, and several flight schools and they’re very active.” Willenborg says that Westfield Barnes is able to compete successfully with several other nearby airports. “You have Pittsfield Municipal Airport about 40 miles to our west in the Berkshires; you have Westover Metropolitan Airport, which is a military-owned airport, but with a civilian WESTF I ELD-BARNES REGIONAL A I RPORT component; then you have Bradley International Airport to our south, about 15-20 miles away,” he notes. “I think what separates us is our Airport’s airside infrastructure. We have a 9,000-foot, primary, instrument runway and a 5,000-foot crosswind runway – not many airports have that long of a crosswind runway for general aviation. We’re a seven-day-a-week facility with full- time, 24-hour, ARFF services. There are no Prior Permission Required (PPR) requirements to use the Airport after the tower closes. We have the northeast alert mission for the Air Force, so our snow removal is tops in the region because we have to keep the runway open at all times – our primary runway is typically available unless we have a significant blizzard. Plus, we have great access from landside. We’re a mile from the Mass Pike, so we have great access east and west to access Boston and NY State, and then I-91 is about two miles away to go north and south to access CT and VT. Our fee structures and the cost of fuel and hangars are less here at Westfield than some of those other airports, particularly