A Westchester County businessman has started the ball rolling to develop a start up airline at Stewart Airport in Newburgh. The man, who wishes to remain anonymous at this time, told MidHudsonNews.com that he has a business plan drafted and is working on securing financing.

Under his plan, the low-cost carrier would be based at Stewart and provide non-stop service to six cities in the US of which Florida would be one. That would mean many jobs from maintenance staff, to office personnel and its flight department.

Southeast Airlines abruptly ended service to Florida and shut down recently. At Stewart, its service was very successful in terms of passenger loads. The new carrier, which has been in the planning stages for over a year, could pick up where Southeast left off.

Orange County Capital Development Corporation President Robert Hannon said the company has good potential. “Because of the magnitude of this operation, there’s a smaller pool of investors to deal with, but they have had initial meetings with investors and it is my understanding that there are additional meetings scheduled,” he said.

Hannon said as long as entrepreneurs and investors are talking, there’s a possibility that a deal can get done.

The new airline is headed by a long-time airline employee who has been involved in other start ups.