WTC TEB groundings

Teterboro groundings pinch airport businesses
Daily Record, Wednesday, October 3, 2001
By ALEX NUSSBAUM and DANIEL SFORZA, Staff Writers

With Teterboro Airport still all but closed for security's sake, businesses around the runways say they're in an economic nosedive as well. From jet fuelers to caterers to limousine services, companies that rely on the nation's third-largest corporate airfield said they've had to curtail expenses and, by some accounts, even lay off workers while they wait for the skies to reopen.

Their suffering pales compared with the loss of life from the Sept. 11 attacks, they say. Nonetheless, some companies estimate they have lost half their business over the last three weeks. "There's a feeling of helplessness," Joe Celentano, the co-founder of Rudy's Inflight Catering, said Tuesday. "You know no matter how good your product is or how good your workers are, there's nothing you can do. If the airport's closed, it's closed."

A month ago, Rudy's would have been bustling on a weekday, hurriedly preparing veal saltimbuco or a halibut with dill beurre blanc for the well-heeled executives who jet out of Teterboro Airport. But Tuesday, the company's kitchens were uncharacteristically quiet. Rudy's has lost 45 percent to 55 percent of its business, Celentano said, as customers were able to move their jets to Morristown, Westchester County, or other airports under looser restrictions. The Federal Aviation Administration said it may have security recommendations for Teterboro this week. But when they would be implemented, and when the airport could fully reopen, are unknown, a spokesman said.

The restriction can't be lifted soon enough for the aviation community. Takeoffs and landings are down as much as 90 percent, airport officials said, and fuel sales, a mainstay of Teterboro's economy, are off by 60 percent to 70 percent. "All of the revenue streams have been impacted dramatically," said Lanny Rider, the airport's manager. "It can't last too much longer."

Since Sept. 11, the FAA has forbidden privately owned planes from flying within 29 miles of Manhattan. Teterboro, its runways 12 miles from the skyline, is trapped right in the middle of those restrictions. The ban does not affect charter services, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said, because they already follow strict security standards. Charter services have to obey federal guidelines for screening passengers, checking bags, and other precautions, he said.

But most of Teterboro's fleet consists of jets owned by huge corporations in New York and North Jersey. The security rules for those flights are less strict, so all remain grounded, the FAA says. "It's a ripple effect for everybody," said a supervisor at Signature Flight Support, which services those corporate planes. "It's very slow. We're down 50 percent."

Among the hardest-hit are Teterboro's "fixed-base operators," Signature and four other companies that store, clean, fuel, and deice private planes, among other services. Some businesses have laid off employees, said Celentano and the Signature employee, who asked to remain anonymous. But Rider, the airport manager, said he hasn't heard of any dismissals yet, though the companies are asking workers to take sick days and vacation during the downtime. Rudy's has been luckier. While some travelers have taken their business to nearby airports, Celentano's 103 employees already cater other airports in the region, including Newark and La Guardia. Other companies, from local hotels to Teterboro's hot dog vendor, are less flexible. "I don't think anyone's optimistic," Celentano said. "You wake up every morning and wonder if they are going to lift these bans or not, and nobodyreally knows." The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the airfield, will do all it can to help, Rider said. The agency won't hassle tenants about late rent, he said.

Because of the nature of flights at Teterboro -- mostly private planes -- there are no metal detectors or requirement to X-ray luggage. "Teterboro, by nature, is a safe airport," said Tom Carver of the New Jersey Aviation Association, a business lobbyist. "It has fencing, Port Authority police*, and limited points of access. The corporate traffic is all self-defined: People who own the aircraft also fly them and know their passengers."

Still, security can be improved, Carver said. He suggested requiring all airport employees to wear visible identification, posting no-trespassing signs at airport perimeters, and finding a way to secure parked aircraft. But airport companies employ 1,250 people, managers for Teterboro-area businesses said. "If this was any other situation, I think you'd hear a lot more complaining," said Celentano. "But none of us want to sound like cry babies at a time like this. But it is a loss of a way of life for us."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. **