Boston Globe, NorthWest section
August 19, 2004

Air carrier launches Hanscom service
Charter company sets its focus on business travelers

By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent

BEDFORD -- Linear Air's start last weekend as a Hanscom Field charter
operator was just a blip on the radar -- one flight each to Nantucket and
Martha's Vineyard and a third flight to Trenton, N.J. Yet founder and
president William Herp of Lexington sees big things on the horizon for the
fledgling carrier, formed eight months ago.

"We're getting dozens of calls and e-mails every day inquiring about our
service, so our charter business is clearly resonating among many people,"
said Herp, 41, who declined to reveal how many passengers Linear ferried to
the three destinations last weekend in its eight-seat Cessna Grand Caravan
turboprop plane.

As he looked to the skies while standing next to the gleaming,
white-and-blue $1.8 million Cessna, Herp outlined his ambitious plans: three
additional aircraft next year and 10 new planes in 2006, including a new
breed of smaller, lighter jets.

Business people who want to get to secondary airports near major cities in
the Northeast are the targeted audience, said Herp, an entrepreneur who has
a master's in business administration from Harvard. He also is an
instrument-rated commercial pilot.

The first expansion move, he said, will be to the New York City area some
time next month. Service will be between Bedford and probably Teterboro,
N.J., he noted, adding that ground transportation will be provided by Boston
Coach, an enterprise of Fidelity Investments. His company signed an
agreement with Boston Coach on July 21.

Herp said he's confident he can reach well-heeled business managers through
Linear's initial service to Cape Cod and the islands. He said he's not put
off by the unsuccessful experience two years ago of Boston-Maine Airways,
which had few takers for its Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard runs.

"I don't think our strategy of going after these individuals" would have
changed even if Boston-Maine was still making scheduled flights to the
islands, he said.

The main competition currently for Cape Cod service is Cape Air, which has
scheduled flights to and from Boston's Logan International Airport.

In the next few months, Linear could start charter service to several
smaller airports within a 500-mile radius of Bedford, Herp said. "The market
tides are rising for serving business travelers" who, he asserted, are
tiring of dealing with commercial airlines at major airports like Logan in
Boston.

Reactions to Linear Air's emergence at Hanscom Field varied widely.
Opponents of commercial and corporate activity at the airfield say any
newcomer is unwelcome. Others contend that activity generated by corporate
jets and large charter operators is the real threat, while still others
believe Linear should be given a chance to show it is a viable carrier.

The most bullish about Linear's chances is, not surprisingly, the
Massachusetts Port Authority, owner-operator of Hanscom Field.

"We're excited that they're here," authority spokesman Richard Walsh said.
"They're locally based, for one thing. And demand is building fast for
air-taxi service to what eventually will be an unlimited number of
destinations."

That was also the thinking of Herp, who huddled last fall with partner
Michael Goulian and individuals interested in putting up money for the
venture, which would be marketed on the Internet.

In the late 1990s, Herp cofounded another Lexington firm, e-Dialog Inc., a
provider of e-mail-based, direct-response marketing services. A company
called WhiteSpeed acquired the company last year.

Goulian, 35, who is now Linear Air's director of operations and chief pilot,
grew up in the aviation industry, eventually running a family business,
Executive Flyers Aviation, based at Hanscom Field. It is one of the largest
flight training schools on the East Coast.

Subsequently, Herp and Goulian persuaded six investors, whose names are not
being disclosed, to pony up $1.1 million among them in equity capital, Herp
said. Then $1.5 million in equipment financing was obtained, he said.

Meantime, an initial marketing strategy was decided on. "We believed, and
still do, that charter service to Cape Cod and the islands would provide us
with an ideal customer base," Herp said. "We realized that many of these
people would be business travelers whom we'd want to eventually serve during
the week."

David Fink, chief executive of Portsmouth, N.H.-based Boston-Maine, which
now only serves Trenton, N.J., from Bedford, said Cape Cod and the islands
are "a niche market." He added, "We will be going back there at some point."

Although Linear Air will offer, in the near future, charter flights
throughout the week, for now, it is only offering service on Friday,
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Hyannis,
Provincetown. One-way fares, Herp said, are $169 to Martha's Vineyard and
Nantucket and $149 to Hyannis and Provincetown.

On its website, www.linearair.com, the carrier lists several round trips for
each of those four days. But the actual schedule depends on customer
response, Herp said, adding that Linear can make a profit if four people are
signed up for a flight.

Linear has four pilots, three maintenance specialists, and about five other
employees, Herp said.

The new, so-called "very light jets" being produced by Cessna and other
manufacturers are what excite Goulian and him, Herp said. "These planes,
which can seat as few as four passengers, have smaller engines, reduced
noise, and are kinder to the environment," he maintained.

Whatever Linear does, it will amount to "a small bump, not a big bump caused
by today's corporate jets and time-share jets," said Bedford Selectman
Sheldon Moll, who is also a member and former chairman of the Hanscom Field
Advisory Commission and the Hanscom Area Towns Committee, made up of
selectmen from Bedford, Concord, Lexington, and Lincoln, the communities
adjoining the airfield.

However, a Concord-based historic preservation group, Save Our Heritage, is
opposed to any new commercial or corporate aircraft arrivals or departures
at Hanscom Field, said its executive director, Anna Winter.

"People who live in this historic community understand how harmful aircraft
noise and pollution are to places like Minute Man Park and Walden. . .,"
Winter added. "It's appalling that we have to fight this battle yet again --
especially against a carrier whose owner lives in Lexington and should be
rallying behind the area's preservation rather than its degradation."

Herp countered, "Hanscom Field is part of our heritage, too, and we are
committed to being a responsible business by flying small, quiet airplanes."

© Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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