City officials see the name change to Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport as a marketing tool.
View full sizeWestfield-Barnes Municipal Airport will become Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport to better reflect its scope of operations and to improve marketing opportunities.WESTFIELD – Officials are changing the name of Barnes Municipal Airport to better reflect its current operations and programs and enhance efforts to market development at the airfield.
The new name will be Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport. The process to change its directory listing in Federal Aviation Administration and other national publications may take as long an 18 months, Airport Manager Brian P. Barnes said Tuesday.
Changing signage at and around the airport, as well as stationary and the airport’s website, will be completed shortly, he said.
The City Council approved the name change last week after receiving support from the Airport Commission, officials said. The request was presented to the full council by Ward 6 Councilor Christopher M. Crean and At-Large councilor John J. Beltrandi III.
“It is primarily perception,” Barnes said of the name change. “Companies and their pilots look at a municipal airport as a small airport. 'Regional' adds space but it also better reflects the services and operations provided here,” he said.
Also, 'Regional' will improve efforts to develop the airport and property it owns abutting the airfield, he said.
City Advancement officer Jeffrey R. Daley agreed.
“Many of the aircraft housed at the airport are from communities outside Westfield and 'Regional' will add to our efforts to market this jewel and attract additional business to the city,” said Daley.
“We hope to draw bigger businesses to Barnes,” the airport manager said.
Currently, the airport is home to Gulfstream, Air Flyte, Five Star, Aero Design and Westfield Flight Academy.
“Soon we hope to add a helicopter flight academy that will provide lessons to that aircraft population in addition to flight school services already provided here,” Barnes said.
“General aviation is the mainstay here and we want to avoid diminishing things like flight schools, but we also want to catch the population that is turned off by municipal airports.
“Municipal airports are considered small by people who might use them. We provide a greater service than a municipal airport does,” Barnes explained.