The military is paying to repair the main runway at Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield.
View full sizeAn F-15 fighter jet from the 104th Air Wing at Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield takes off.WESTFIELD – The Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing will temporarily move its Homeland Security operations to Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee to allow runway repairs at its base at Barnes Regional Airport.
The move is scheduled for the middle of this month to mid-August, allowing repairs to both ends of Barnes’ main 9,000 -foot runway used by the wing.
The Air Force Reserve’s 439th Airlift Wing at Westover will provide runway use to the 104th Fighter Wing during the month-long relocation, Lt. Col. James G. Bishop, public affairs chief for the 439th said Wednesday.
Maj. Matthew T. Mutti, executive officer for the 104th Fighter Wing, said the relocation will allow Air National Guard pilots and their F-15 Eagle tactical fighter jets to continue their Homeland Security mission in the Northeast.
Airport manager Brian P. Barnes said runway repairs will include the replacement of two strips, each measuring 80-feet by 1,000-feet at each end of the main runway.
“The work is designed to give us another two to three years of runway use before it must be completely reconstructed,” said Barnes.
Cost of the repairs is estimated at $700,000, which Barnes said will be borne by the military.
Barnes is working with the Federal Aviation Administration, Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Massachusetts Air National Guard to develop plans for major repairs to the runway surface.
That will range from resurfacing the main runway to a complete reconstruction project within the next three years, he said.
Estimated cost for that project ranges from about $7 million to $20 million.
The 104th Fighter Wing began its Homeland Security mission in February 2010 throughout the Northeast.
Mutti said pilots assigned to the security mission will conduct local training flights from Westover during the relocation and “they may fly at odd hours due to their role in homeland defense.”