2002_Annual_BIA_Compliance

Bradley International Airport (2000)

In March 2000, the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee voted to do a study of Bradley International Airport to determine if the airport is optimally achieving its economic development potential. The call for the study came after several consultant studies and the Governor's Council on Economic Competitiveness and Technology's report were issued calling for substantial change at Bradley.

The program review study found that Bradley lacked a business development focus, and was run like a state agency, despite being established as an enterprise fund, reliant on its own revenue, and not taxes, to operate. The committee also found that the Department of Transportation (DOT), which manages and operates Bradley, had delayed some of the larger projects called for in the 1993 airport master plan, which placed the construction of a new terminal three years behind its 1999 completion date.

The committee concluded that airside operations, and not business development, had been Bradley's major focus, and to be successful Bradley must place greater emphasis and resources on business development, including marketing and customer relations.

The program review committee determined that Bradley needed outside direction from key business leaders, with authority over key personnel, financing, planning and operations. The committee developed a three-pronged approach, encompassing 14 separate recommendations, to improve Bradley's structure and operations:

· additional resources and staff with appropriate business development background;

· removal of cumbersome state bureaucratic constraints on Bradley's operations;

· a change in governance structure to introduce a Board of Directors with authority over key Bradley decisions.

Legislative action. All of the committee's recommendations were incorporated into Substitute Senate Bill 1276, which went to the Transportation Committee but no action was taken. The Transportation Committee raised an omnibus transportation strategy bill (HB 6985), which eventually was passed (P.A. 01-5) during the June Special Session. The act contains some provisions that are similar to the program review committee's bill, but other elements require less change for Bradley than program review's bill.

Compliance. To assess continuing compliance with the legislation and administrative recommendations, DOT was asked to confer with the Bradley Board and respond to the committee regarding progress made during 2002. The table below lists the board's major functions, the level of compliance achieved to date, along with explanatory comments on the board's progress. It appears that, despite being given somewhat less authority in the legislation than was envisioned in the program review bill, the Bradley Board of Directors is assuming a strong directive and oversight role in Bradley decisions.


Summary of Compliance with Committee Recommendations
*Recommendation*	*Status*	*Comment*
Develop an organizational and management structure for Bradley	Partial	A new organizational chart was submitted with Bradley's compliance response. However, some key staffing and resources remain outside Bradley's sphere.
Approve Bradley's annual capital and operating budget	Partial	Board approved Bradley budget for current fiscal year. It appears that the board is also taking an active role in ensuring that Bradley pursues all revenue sources available to it.
Establish cooperative efforts with the Transportation Strategy Board	Full	Board member is chair of the TSB and the Bradley board had significant input in drafting the TSB airport policy.
Establish a vision statement and strategic goals for Bradley and regularly assess progress	Partial	Mission statement adopted. Board adopted strategic framework during 2002 with the comprehensive plan and assessment mechanism to be developed in 2003. The development of specific strategic goals has been somewhat delayed; the aftermath of September has required the Board to focus on a nimble response to federally mandated changes and industry conditions.
Approve the airport master plan	Partial	Board continues to work with consultant selected - PB Aviation-- to develop the master plan for Bradley. The plan is expected to be completed during 2003.
Establish and review marketing plans, and establish "best use" of airport property	Partial	Board reviewed marketing plan for the current fiscal year. Highlights include a targeted advertising campaign in Fairfield County and updated Bradley logos and website. However, because of the financial condition at Bradley the marketing budget was cut by 50 percent.
Develop procedures related to consultant selection and review of significant contracts	Full	Board formalized consultant selection procedures during 2002.
Seek appropriate independent expertise, especially on strategy and marketing, and select consultants needed	Full	Board has worked with several consultants, especially in the areas recommended, but Board indicates it uses consultants sparingly and in cost-effective manner, given financial conditions since 2001.
Ensure customer service standards, performance targets and assessment systems are established	Partial	Board has used some customer feedback mechanisms and is in the process of refining and institutionalizing a process to accomplish this on a regular basis.
Approve community relations policies and ensure the Community Advisory Board (CAB) regularly considers comment from the community in airport-related decisions	Partial	Board has received updates from CAB and is in process of developing a schedule of bi-annual meetings
Adopt code of conduct for members and rules for conducting business	Full	Board adopted Code of Ethics for Public Officials (C.G.S., Chapter 10), and Roberts Rules of Order at its October 2001 meeting