Stratford Mayor Laura Hoydick said she's against the sale of Sikorsky Airport to the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), saying the airport is situated entirely within the territorial boundaries of Stratford.
Earlier this month, the City of Bridgeport Airport Commission authorized the sale of the airport to CAA for $10 million.
More than two decades have passed since the Bridgeport airport has provided regular passenger service. Since then, it has operated for general aviation which only includes air service for private and corporate entities, according to Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim.
The CAA plans to complete renovations to the airport totaling more than $60 million. These renovations include adding the appropriate airfield and landside infrastructure necessary to support commercial air service, Ganim said.
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Hoydick said she was the only person to vote in opposition of the sale. She also noted that she's the only Stratford member of the Sikorsky Memorial Airport Commission.
The Stratford mayor said Bridgeport changed their position from wanting to enter into an operator agreement with the CAA to outright selling it to them.
"We have expressed the concerns Stratford has about the probable expansion and development of the airport in a way that fails to take into account the nature of the surrounding community, or the environmentally sensitive marshes and wetlands surrounding the airport," Hoydick said in a statement.
Hoydick said Stratford was denied the opportunity to make a case for their purchase of the airport.
"The airport should be run by those with a vested interest in the region because we live here, not a state entity located 70 miles away," she continued.
The sale of the airport was approved by the airport commission. It still has to be approved by the Bridgeport City Council as well as the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).
