Members of the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA) made their first public comments about a proposed merger with the troubled Connecticut Port Authority.
The port authority has been ridden with millions of dollars in cost overruns on the state pier project in New London, along with other issues.
CAA members had cautious comments on the merger proposed by Governor Ned Lamont’s administration.
Board members say folding the port authority into the airport authority would achieve savings, and would it adopt some of the CAA’s management practices, which have been applauded by some in state government.
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At the same time, there are concerns. For one, CAA Executive Director Kevin Dillon pointed out not all of the CAA’s resources could be used to oversee the port authority, since the Federal Aviation Administration has strict rules on how airports are run.
“The finances of the aviation assets have to be kept strictly separate from the finances of the port authority if it were to be brought together,” Dillon said.
Board members who spoke after Dillon expressed concerns that absorbing the port authority could become a distraction to the CAA’s main mission of maintaining safe and reliable aviation services in Connecticut.
There were also questions about who would be on a new reconstituted board.
Also of note - Dillon worked for years at the New York-New Jersey Port Authority, which some consider a model for combining two separate agencies.
NBC CT Investigates reached out the Connecticut Port Authority for comment and has not heard back.
The Office of Policy and Management, which is part of the Lamont administration, offered the following comment:
“With the pending completion of the State Pier project, the Administration is exploring the possibility of merging the Connecticut Port Authority (CPA) into the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA). If the Governor decides to propose this initiative, then legislation will be proposed to the General Assembly for consideration in the next legislative session. The CAA has an extensive administrative infrastructure and experience with transportation facilities, as well as deep experience dealing with a variety of national firms in furtherance of the state’s economic development strategy. These attributes may be invaluable as we begin a new era in management of our state’s deep-water ports.”
