Airport a Boon, Study Says

    As discussion of the East Hampton Airport continues — with aircraft noise reduction and whether or not to take Federal Aviation Administration grants shaping up as a key campaign issue in the upcoming town election — Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione last week distributed a 2010 report by the State Department of Transportation and the F.A.A. on the economic impacts of aviation in the state.

    The data in the report, which examined the impacts of various airports in the state, covering the period from September 2009 through August 2010, was compiled through surveys and through estimation and extrapolation of existing data.

    “Study surveys of sponsors and businesses revealed that 65 full and part-time jobs and $8.6 million in expenditures are the direct result of on-airport businesses, including airport sponsor expenditures, and visitor spending at the airport. Including indirect expenditures, the total impact for East Hampton Airport was $12.6 million, supporting 91 jobs,” the report concluded.

    According to the report, “prominent corporate and business users of the airport include NetJets Aviation, Center for Disease Detection, SBL Services International, Bombardier Aerospace, Seneca Foods Corporation, Coastal Wings Inc., Calvin Klein Studio, Auerbach Aeronautic Associates, Sounds Aircraft Flight Enterprises, Sound Aircraft Systems, Myers Aero Fuels, Hertz Corporation, Aviation Resources Inc., Wells Fargo, Cape Air, and Banc of America Leasing and Capital.”

    In a press release, Mr. Stanzione described the data as “important evidence of the economic contribution [of] our airport to every taxpayer in our community.” According to the authors, the report “shows that this sector produces an impact greater than the level of public investment required to maintain the system in a state of good repair.