Wrong Airport, Wrong Board Member. HVN Airport & Kenneth Dagliere.

I write in regard to:

http://features.yaledailynews.com/blog/2023/11/06/tweeds-embattled-expansion/#disqus_thread

For the record, my opinions and commentary are that of my own. This opinion piece does not reflect the opinions of my employer. Further, I am not a representative of the Federal Aviation Administration and therefore do not necessarily convey their technical or policy views on Aeronautics. My views are not endorsed by the Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority, AVPorts or Avelo Airlines.

The November 6,2023 article authored by Hanwen Zhang of the Yale Daily News is nothing more than false, misleading and deceptive rhetoric primarily sourced from East Haven TNHAA Board member Kenneth Dagliere and resident Lorena Venegas, both of East Haven.

In an article that deals heavily with a topic deserving to be sourced by regulation and data, it sources none of such. Instead, just the words of vastly unqualified figureheads pollute what is supposed to be an informative news article on an important regional subject, that being Tweed-New Haven Airport.

Kenneth Dagliere, Tweed New Haven Airport Authority Board Member.

Below are but a few of the Federal Aviation Administration Advisory Circulars that pertain to the exact issues Kenneth Dagliere is commenting on and that Lorena Vengas of 10,000 Hawks has publicly commented on ad-nauseam as well. As a Professional Aviator of several decades, I am underwhelmed with their level of aviation expertise. You should be too. But don’t take my word for it.

Consider below, a suggested reading list for both of these public figures!

AC 150/5000-17 - Critical Aircraft and Regular Use Determination (faa.gov)

AC 150-5325-4B Runway Length Requirements for Airport Design (faa.gov)

AC 150/5300-13B - Airport Design (faa.gov)

AC 150/5335-5D - Standardized Method of Reporting Airport Pavement Strength - PCR (faa.gov)

AC 150/5320-6G - Airport Pavement Design and Evaluation (faa.gov)

AC 150/5060-5 - Airport Capacity And Delay (faa.gov)

And to summarize, here is an informative link for not just Ken, Lorena and The Yale Daily News, but the entire community…https://www.sehinc.com/news/navigating-the-latest-faa-airport-design-standards-5-highlights-airport-officials-need-to-know

Airports are designed, modified and operated according to standards a little more complex than what Lorena and Ken would like you to believe. I’m happy to debate the merits of this statement any time you wish.

Let’s examine Kenneth Daglieres’ postage stamp assertion in a coherent, well-sourced and data driven context: Comparison Airports.

Chicago-Midway (MDW), John Wayne-Santa Ana (SNA), Bob Hope-Burbank (BUR), Key West International (EYW) and Arcata California (ACV).

From postage stamp size themselves, to the “foggiest” airport in the country, to some of the shortest runways used by Jet Airliners, these are all thriving airports that safely and legally function under many,if not all of the same constraints (and unique to themselves) that Tweed-New Haven operates under.

Apparently, Kenneth Dagliere didn’t know that:

There is no meaningful direct correlation between runway length, acreage, proximity to human development, environmental concerns, weather and the amount of air traffic activity. In case Ken Dagliere didn’t know, airports don’t work that way. By example:

The busiest of all these comparison airports has a runway just 100 feet longer than HVN. By further example, Key West has a runway far shorter than Tweed and yet is busier! Hmmmm.

Don’t believe me? Numbers don’t lie. But Airport Opponents do!

After you click each link, click the "Airplane" Icon for all the factual information.

SNA. Longest Runway: 5,700 feet. Total Year Ops: 316,796. Acres: 504.

Facility Dashboard - SNA (faa.gov)

MDW. Longest Runway: 6,522 feet (Displaced Thresholds). Total Yearly Ops: 214,427. Acres: 650.

Facility Dashboard - MDW (faa.gov)

BUR. Longest Runway: 6,886 feet (Displaced Threshold). Total Yearly Ops: 151,916. Acres: 555.

Facility Dashboard - BUR (faa.gov)

EYW. Longest Runway: 5,076 feet (Displaced Thresholds). Total Yearly Ops: 66, 550. Acres: 334.

Facility Dashboard - EYW (faa.gov)

ACV. Longest Runway: 6,046 feet (Displaced Thresholds). Total Yearly Ops: 42,174. Acres: 745.

Facility Dashboard - ACV (faa.gov)

HVN Longest Runway: 5,600 feet. Total Yearly Ops: 27,044. Acres: 394.

Facility Dashboard - HVN (faa.gov)

These airports are served routinely by the main stay of the civil airline fleet, the Boeing 737 series aircraft (and also Airbus series). Are these the wrong airports for the wrong airplane?

These airports are hemmed in and constrained by environmental constraints as well as residential and commercial development.

These airports are also impacted by challenging proximal terrain constraints.

These airports experience unique meteorological circumstances.

https://eyw.com/

These airports also have numerous aeronautical procedures and restrictions in place on their facilities directly and expressly for the purpose of upholding safety standards.

Factually speaking, there is no direct, obvious correlation between airport size (acreage), runway length and how busy an airport “should” be or what kind of plane is “wrong” for an airport . But that’s exactly what the likes of anti-airport persons Kenneth Dagliere, Lorena Venegas and The Yale Daily News Article would like you to believe. You see, in doing so, it helps them make their case against Tweed. They are being dishonest or misinformed (or both). Neither is excusable for such Pilar’s of the community.

How airports really function.

Myriad factors to include: environmental concerns, topographical issues, airport infrastructure and layout, aircraft specific procedures and performance capabilities, airspace and air traffic technology and regulatory constraints must all be considered when deciding what is “right for an airport”, Not Ken or Lorena’s authoritative, but unchecked statements. Airports and the roles they serve are a unique matrix of myriad factors. Airport Authority Board Member Kenneth Dagliere is woefully unaware of this fact. So are his ally’s against Tweed.

BEFORE MAKING PUBLIC STATEMENTS ON CERTAIN MATTERS, ONE SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF THOSE MATTERS. THIS DID NOT OCCUR IN THE YALE DAILY NEWS ARTICLE.

Kenneth Dagliere’s comments regarding the intent and design HVN airport as being intended for “small commuter aircraft” and “short connecting flights” is entirely without merit. They also raise unnecessary safety concerns.

Regrettably, Ken was unchallenged by the Yale Daily News as to the tenets of airport functionality. The Yale Daily News Author could have done far better than she did by actually challenging him to support his words with facts. That didn’t happen. In this regard, I challenge Ken Dagliere to substantiate his statements. Here are some facts:

Mr. Dagliere makes comments willfully misleading (or at least ignorant) of the above facts that clearly illustrate his inability to:

1. Define aircraft certification standards as they apply to aircraft operations at Tweed and to comprehend the standards to which airports are designed and built (See above and below citations regarding such).

2. Show that he understands the nature of aircraft operations in terms of aircraft performance.

eCFR :: 14 CFR 121.189 -- Airplanes: Turbine engine powered: Takeoff limitations. (FAR 121.189)

eCFR :: 14 CFR 121.197 -- Airplanes: Turbine engine powered: Landing limitations: Alternate airports. (FAR 121.197)

3. Show that he grasps the Federal Aviation Regulations applicable to HVN and those that bind the operations of Air Carrier Aircraft at Tweed.

eCFR :: 14 CFR Part 121 -- Operating Requirements: Domestic, Flag, and Supplemental Operations (FAR Part 121)

Part 139 Airport Certification | Federal Aviation Administration (faa.gov)

4. Properly understands the relationship between airport capacity as it relates to airport layout, air traffic control procedures and navigational infrastructure (See above).

5. Serve adequately the needs of all stakeholders to Tweed-New Haven Airport as an Airport Board member. There is no reference for this statement, it’s just my opinion.

In Closing

Very simply, Mr. Dagliere’s fraudulent statements on the above matters make it crystal clear that he is entirely unfamiliar with even the most basic requisite knowledge of airports and aircraft operations in order to serve as a competent Airport Authority Board Member. Because he opines in the YDN Article , so publicly and so authoritatively on specific technical matters that he knows nothing about (as does Public “Activist” Lorena Venegas), Mr. Dagliere, Ms. Venegas and Yale Daily News have nicely combined to defraud the public on the subject of Tweed-New Haven Airport.

Beginning to end, the Yale Daily News article on Tweed-New Haven Airport was a sounding board for misinformed, unqualified, biased opinion with not a shred of fact to back up any of its conjecture. Kenneth Dagliere, Lorena Venegas and The Yale Daily News combine in award winning format to demonstrate their incompetence in their respective roles…which isn’t to support the community, but rather to grandstand, glory-hound and dramatize the subject that is Tweed-New Haven Airport. This, all for one glorious cause: to be Anti-Tweed with spirited campaign of disinformation.

Kenneth Dagliere is the wrong Airport Board member for the wrong Airport. In a similar vein, Lorena Venegas is the wrong protester for the wrong community. And not to be forgotten, Yale Daily News Journalist Hanwen Zhang is the wrong reporter covering the wrong airport.

T. Lorenti, Captain

Airline Transport Pilot

Certificated Flight and Ground Instructor