As the head of airport operations for United Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport, Jon Gooda is quick to detail how important the state of New Jersey is to the airline.
“This is where our employees live and a lot of our customers live,” he said.
With more than 14,000 employees working in New Jersey, United already is one of the largest employers in the state.
So, why not a few more?
Gooda, in an exclusive interview with BINJE, offered his thoughts on whether expanding Atlantic City International Airport — which was noted as a solution during Newark airport’s meltdown in late April/early May — would be of interest to United.
His answer: maybe.
Gooda was noncommittal on the idea, saying only that it is something United certainly would look at.
To be clear, this is in no way Gooda’s decision to make, but he did offer his thoughts.
“All I would say is our network plan team always is evaluating where we should go, and they’re always looking for markets that we can either stimulate demand or we can tap into the existing demand,” he said.
Gooda reiterated that United is very committed to New Jersey — and always interested in ways it can serve residents better.
“We’re committed here, but we’re always evaluating,” he said. “Would we like to have a seat at the table if there’s a discussion about (expanding Atlantic City airport)? For sure. And we stay very connected with all those South Jersey legislators.”
To be clear, expanding the Atlantic City airport would take years and cost billions.
But, there certainly is an appetite to do so in South Jersey.
When Newark airport experienced its meltdown, some government and business leaders began talking about the decades-old dream of dramatically expanding Atlantic City International Airport, transforming it from a small, regional airport with very limited commercial traffic to one that could use its adequate space to lure Central Jersey customers away from Newark Liberty and South Jersey customers from Philadelphia International Airport.
The region has the growing population and economic base needed to justify the project. And the idea has powerful leaders behind it, including South Jersey powerbroker George Norcross, Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Voorhees) and Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson.
Talk of the project has slowed since Newark airport was able to right itself by reducing capacity. But that hasn’t reduced the interest in South Jersey.
Is it worth talking about? Gooda said he wouldn’t turn down the chance.
“Should we explore options? Yes,” he said.
