Boston Globe
February 20, 2004

Boston-Maine heads back to Hanscom
Regional airline to resume Bedford service March 25

By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent

Just when it appeared that commercial aviation activity was dying out at
Bedford's Hanscom Field, Boston-Maine Airways said yesterday it will resume
service at the suburban airfield on March 25.

The announcement by the small, regional airline out of Portsmouth, N.H.,
came 16 days after Shuttle America said it would depart Hanscom to
concentrate on operations in and out of Pittsburgh.

For a little more than two months, Boston-Maine will be competing with
Shuttle America for customers on a route between Bedford and Trenton, N.J.
Shuttle America, which does business as US Airways Express and first landed
at Hanscom in 1999, will cease operations at the airfield May 31.

"We look forward to competing with Shuttle America for a bit and then having
the field to ourselves and making the most of good customer demand for that
route," said Dan Fortnam, marketing and sales vice president for
Boston-Maine, which operates as Pan Am Clipper Connection.

The airline, Fortnam said, will have seven round trips a day between Bedford
and Trenton, compared to Shuttle America's four round trips a day. In
summer, he said, Boston-Maine will try to build on the Trenton to Martha's
Vineyard and Nantucket market.

Boston-Maine, which operates 19-seat JetStream aircraft, had ambitious plans
in July 2002 when it inaugurated service to the Vineyard from Hanscom. But
there was insufficient demand from there to its subsequent destinations,
including Nantucket; Bangor, Maine; White Plains, N.Y., and St. John, New
Brunswick.

In 2002, the airline logged 228 operations to and from Bedford; in 2003 it
had fewer than a dozen operations. It ended its Hanscom Field stay in April
2003.

The Massachusetts Port Authority, owner-operator of the airfield, believes
that Boston-Maine will do well in the long run, said spokesman Richard
Walsh. "There's good demand for the Bedford-Trenton route, and we'll work
with them to make things happen," he added.

Shuttle America has said it made money on the Bedford-Trenton route. Its
chief executive, Scott Durgin, couldn't be reached yesterday to comment. A
leader of a grassroots group opposing commercial aviation at Hanscom said
money is beside the point. Boston-Maine's plans "are opening another wedge
for more activity at Hanscom," said Anna Winter, executive director of Save
Our Heritage, a historic preservation group based in Concord. "We will
continue to oppose commercial aviation there."

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.

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Trenton Times
Friday, February 20, 2004

New airline to fly from Mercer

By Larry Hanover, Staff Writer

EWING -- Shuttle America's decision to stop flying out of Trenton-Mercer
Airport at the end of May apparently will not ground airline passenger
service in the region after all.

Boston-Maine Airways intends to start flights between the airport and
suburban Boston in as little as two weeks, company president and partner
David Fink confirmed yesterday.

Even before Shuttle America's departure in May, Boston-Maine plans to pick
up where Shuttle will leave off.

Fink said Boston-Maine plans to start with three round-trip flights daily to
Hanscom Field in Bedford, Mass., eventually building to seven flights and
perhaps adding destinations.

Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said he believes Boston-Maine can
succeed at Trenton-Mercer, calling its expected arrival a boon to the
region.

"I think it's important for us, and certainly for Mercer County taxpayers,
that we continue to use the airport for some level of commercial traffic
because of the revenue that it brings in," Hughes said.

He said Boston-Maine officials saw Shuttle America's constantly increasing
ticket prices and wanted to get its flights started before the market
completely dried up.

Boston-Maine will offer an introductory one-way fare of $100 plus tax
between Trenton-Mercer and Bedford, Fink said.

The four-year-old airline is awaiting federal certification to fly out of
the Ewing airport and some other minor paperwork, Fink said. He said he
expects no problems and plans to make a formal announcement sometime next
week.

"They would very much appear to be a solid organization, one that doesn't
leave a string of victims behind with unpaid bills," Hughes said last night.

Earlier this month, Shuttle America, which flies under the US Airways
Express banner, announced it would leave Trenton-Mercer, becoming the 12th
carrier to walk away from the county airport in 20 years.

Despite a 70 percent drop in passengers over four years, Shuttle America
President Scott Durgin maintained that the Ewing-to-Bedford route was
profitable and was being dropped only because US Airways wanted the company
to devote its resources elsewhere.

The airline paid $290,000 in various leases to the county last year.-- -- --

Boston-Maine is the sister company of Pan American Airways, the former
industry giant now in its third incarnation since going into bankruptcy in
1998 and resurrecting itself as a small regional carrier.

Fink and his partner, Tim Mellon, took over Pan Am in 1998, then launched
Boston-Maine in 2000.

Both airlines have experienced difficulties. Last year, Pan Am had fallen
behind more than $300,000 in lease payments to Orlando Sanford International
Airport and had a month-long hiatus on flights there. It caught up in its
bills within a week and announced wider service.

Boston-Maine last year received permission to expand its fleet of Boeing
727s after initially being limited by the U.S. Department of Transportation
because of concerns about its financial fitness, marketing plan and
managerial oversight.

Fink said the company is on a sound footing, largely because it owns its
727s and 19-seat turboprops instead of leasing them.

"We're not glitzy, glamour, trying to do the initial public offering," Fink
said. "We're trying to do it the old-fashioned way."

The Portsmouth, N.H.-based company has destinations throughout New England
and also flies to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Pan Am flies to
Florida.

Fink said Baltimore-Washington International and Groton, Conn., are likely
future destinations if initial service goes well. Summer routes to places
such as Martha's Vineyard, Mass., also are possible, he said.

"We'll have the best damn commuter service from Hanscom to Trenton that
anyone has ever seen," Fink said. "If we supply travelers what they need,
give a fair price, have an on-time schedule, we'll be a success and take
another step."-- -- --

Many airport neighbors have opposed commercial service out of
Trenton-Mercer, largely because of noise and air pollution concerns.

Hughes said he plans to put in the lease that no 727s would be permitted to
operate out of Ewing.

Fink, who lived in Bucks County, Pa., in the mid-1960s, said he had no
intention of bringing 727s anyhow.

"We bring small planes, less noise, less pollution, the whole thing," Fink
said. "We want it to be neighbor-friendly."

Last week, Heidi Kahme of PLANE (People Limiting Airport Noise and
Expansion) had said Shuttle America's departure indicated Trenton-Mercer
cannot support commercial service.

Yesterday, she voiced no objection to Boston-Maine, calling it a nonevent
because it would pick up an existing route and fly smaller planes.

She also praised Hughes for his statement on 727s, in contrast to former
County Executive Robert D. Prunetti, who unsuccessfully sought to lure
Southwest Airlines and its 727s.

"It's really a breath of fresh air," Kahme said.

Freeholder Chairwoman Elizabeth Muoio offered no predictions on the board's
stance on approving a lease for Boston-Maine but said she feels its plan to
fly smaller, quieter turboprops might be workable.

Kelly Ganges, Hughes' chief of staff, said last night that Hughes had asked
Boston-Maine to rehire as many Shuttle America employees as possible as a
show of good faith. Fifteen employees face job losses.

Still to be determined is the fate of a proposed two-gate terminal at
Trenton-Mercer. Hughes said he probably needs to contact the Federal
Aviation Administration soon to see why its review of the county's
environmental assessment is taking so long.

The Prunetti administration launched the study in August 1999.

Staff writer Karen Ayres contributed to this report.

Copyright 2004 NJ.com
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