“It was definitely our second choice, but it turned out to be a good one.” That’s how corporate air transport manager Rich Sismour characterized GE’s move to Stewart International Airport (SWF) in Newburgh, N.Y., from Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y. There’s no question that HPN is far more convenient to GE’s executive headquarters in nearby Fairfield, Conn., particularly since GE took delivery of its pair of BBJs (GE and Boeing are joint-venture partners in Boeing Business Jets). But there are other advantages to the location some 40 mi north up the Hudson River.
Sismour told AIN, “We tried for three years to get approval to build at White Plains. We had the support of the county executive’s office and won our case with the county board of legislators in September 1997.” But there followed a 120-day appeal period, and opposition groups used the time to organize against building at the airport. “We answered every one of their objections,” said Sismour, “but I guess they just didn’t want us there.”
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