Airport officials hope to attract tenants who will build private aircraft hangars on the site.
WESTFIELD – Northeast Helicopters Flight Services, the country’s oldest helicopter pilot training academy, plans to relocate to Barnes Regional Airport later this year.
The flight school, created in 1974 and located at Ellington Airport in Connecticut, could break ground for its new facility as early as next fall, Rhonda J. Boulette, who along with husband John Boulette owns the school, said Monday.
Airport manager Brian P. Barnes confirmed the planned relocation also, noting it will be located on airport property recently cleared of two empty structures formerly used by the Civil Air Patrol. The site is located just inside the airport perimeter off Airport Road.
Details of the lease arrangement, size and cost of the school were not available, but Boulette said the decision has been made the school will relocate to Barnes.
“We have outgrown Ellington and we have decided to relocate to Barnes. We have to build a new school to accommodate our students,” Boulette said. The Boulettes have owned the school since 2000, she said.
The Boulettes are currently residents of Palmer, but are relocating to Blandford in the near future, she said.
The move to Barnes will bring an estimated 16 employees with it, Boulette said.
In addition to a new airport tenant, Westfield may also get some temporary residents from the Northeast Helicopters’ enrollment.
Boulette said some students will be looking for housing in the Westfield area while attending the 18- to 24-month school. She explained that when students complete 2,000 hours of instruction they are hired as flight instructors as part of completing required training. “Many stay in the area four to five years,” she said.
The site where the school will be built is about 20 acres in size. Barnes said the property is being marketed to attract flight school business as well as private aircraft hangar construction.
“We lease the land to tenants and they will build their own hangars,” Barnes explained.
A formal request for proposals will be advertised once negotiations are complete with the helicopter flight academy, he said.