Airlines face tougher reviews at Hanscom

By Matthew Brelis, Globe Staff, 8/11/2001

The Federal Aviation Administration has told airlines seeking to operate at
Hanscom Field in Bedford that they must conduct expensive and time-consuming
environmental reviews before beginning or changing service at the suburban
airfield.

In a document obtained by The Boston Globe under the Freedom of Information
Act, the agency cited the controversy spawned by the opposition from
residents of wealthy communities surrounding the airport as a reason for the
new requirements, which seldom have been used at other regional facilities.

The agency, in other documents, estimated the reviews would cost airlines at
least $100,000 and add three to six months to the time it takes to begin or
change service at Hanscom.

An FAA spokeswoman yesterday acknowledged the agency supported one more
robust environmental review but said it hasn't made a final decision on
another.

Officials at the Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns and operates
Hanscom and Logan International Airport, said the extensive environmental
reviews were unnecessary and charged the FAA was bowing to pressure from
Hanscom opponents.

''From the get-go, there has been an effort by a select group of citizens
around Hanscom Field to somehow make their community special, to set up a
wall of privilege and have special rules for Hanscom that would not apply to
other airports,'' said Massport spokesman Jose Juves. ''It is not only bad
transportation policy, it is unjust and almost un-American.''

Massport has been trying to increase the use of regional airports to ease
demands on Logan as it works for approval of a disputed 5,000-foot runway at
Logan and views Hansom as an important part of that effort.

The reviews have frustrated airlines. They also run counter to the airport
regionalization policy promoted by Massport and endorsed by the FAA as a
tool to help ease congestion and delays. And one congressman says Hanscom's
neighbors are being protected at the expense of Logan's neighbors.

One of the reviews is an environmental assessment, more rigorous than the
standard environmental review required of most small airlines. The other - a
so-called Section 106 review under the National Historic Preservation Act -
would require a study of how airline service would affect historic sites in
the area, such as the Minuteman National Park and Walden Pond.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown, however, said the agency ''has not yet decided
whether a Section 106 is required or not [at Hanscom]. It is still under
consideration for both Shuttle America and Boston Maine Airways. Our current
position is that environmental assessments are required.''

Suburban residents have enlisted the help of politicians, Hollywood
celebrities, and prominent historians to oppose commercial airline
operations at Hanscom, which is the busiest general aviation airport in New
England, and is bounded by the communities of Bedford, Concord, Lexington,
and Lincoln.

Currently, Shuttle America is the only airline operating at Hanscom. Earlier
this year, Boston Maine Airways, US Airways Express, and Midway expressed
interest in beginning service from the airport, which is near Route 128. US
Airways Express has since said it will not start service from Hanscom. Cape
Air was also pondering service, but did not pursue it partly because of
uncertainty about local acceptance.

The issue of local acceptance is clearly part of the reason why the FAA is
stepping up its environmental requirements.

An FAA official in Washington told Boston Maine Airways that ''controversy
surrounding plans for expanded use of Hanscom'' by airlines required the
more extensive environmental reviews, including the Section 106 review,
according to one document.

Brown, the FAA spokeswoman, could not explain why FAA personnel told
airlines they would need to conduct a Section 106 review if the FAA had not
finalized that request.

Representative Michael Capuano, Democrat of Somerville, wrote FAA
administrator Jane Garvey this summer to complain about the apparent double
standard at Hanscom and Logan.

''This nationally unprecedented and unique change creates an un-level and
unfair situation at Hanscom Field, discouraging any airline that might
express interest to provide turbo-prop service there,'' Capuano wrote.

He said the new requirements favor ''the community around Hanscom'' and
disregards the noise affecting the communtities around Logan. ''Clearly,''
he wrote, ''the sizeable population of poor and minority people surrounding
Logan have as powerful a voice as anyone, and should receive equitable
consideration.''

Shuttle America, based in Connecticut, began service at Hanscom in September
1999. The company estimates it lost $1 million when the FAA delayed
approving a change in its operating specifications allowing it to begin
service from Hanscom to New York's LaGuardia Airport.

Local officials and preservation groups sued the FAA when it finally gave
Shuttle America permission to fly to LaGuardia because the agency did not
require a Section 106 review.

Shuttle America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this year. It is
trying to obtain new financing, and possibly switch to regional jets or
smaller turbo props from the larger Dash-8 airplanes it is using.

One internal Massport memo obtained by the Globe states that Shuttle America
''is about to receive an infusion of funds and will be seeking to come out
of bankruptcy. ... They have apparently been told by the FAA that they will
be required to do both an Environmental Assessment and a Section 106 in
order to use an aircraft with fewer seats'' than the planes they use now.

Scott Foose, vice president of the Regional Airline Association, said ''a
Section 106 review is very unusual. I am aware of one other city that it has
ever been subjected to, and that was Jackson Hole'' in Wyoming. In general,
modern turbo prop aircraft are among the quietest commercial airplanes,
Foose said, adding that requiring reviews for Shuttle America if it switches
to a smaller aircraft ''makes no sense.''

Mark Cestari, vice president of Shuttle America, said the airline has been
told to do the review only at Hanscom, and not at any other airport it flies
to.

Matthew Brelis can be reached by e-mail at brelis@globe.com.


This story ran on page A1 of the Boston Globe on 8/11/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
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