Boston Globe
April 24, 2003

FedEx seeks out Hanscom's fees
Request spurs concern from local officials

By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent

A request by Federal Express Corp. for an update on landing fees and other charges at Hanscom Field has prompted fears that the giant air cargo company will one day send its planes lumbering through suburban skies during predawn hours.

News of the request came as FedEx was planning to close its Hartwell Avenue distribution center in Lexington on May 5 because expanding the facility was not feasible.

A FedEx spokeswoman declined to comment on the company's request for information, and a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns the airport, said that FedEx has been periodically asking about fees and other charges at Hanscom for 10 years.

But representatives from neighboring towns who closely watch activity at the airport were disturbed by the report.

FedEx ''is a very big concern because of the possibility down the road that there could be middle-of-the-night flights and an increase in [truck] traffic,'' said Peter Enrich, chairman of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission. Enrich, a former Lexington selectman, noted that at the commission's April 15 meeting, Massport spokesman Richard Walsh reported that airport director Barbara Patzner had fielded an unsolicited call from FedEx concerning landing fees and other charges. Sheldon Moll, chairman of the Hanscom Area Towns Committee and a Bedford selectman, said, ''If this is a beginning [of cargo operations], it's a bad beginning.''

Another Massport spokesman, Jose Juves, said Tuesday that the huge overnight package carrier only wanted ''to get an update from us on rates and charges. They've been calling us on and off since about 1993.''

Although Massport has plans to accommodate cargo carriers, the planes have yet to land at Hanscom.

There has been no further word from FedEx, Juves said, adding, ''But the FedEx call speaks to the appeal of the Hanscom location.''

The Memphis-based company does not comment on plans until they are completed, said spokeswoman Pam Roberson. ''We routinely contact airport officials, municipal officials, developers, and real estate agents about possible locations,'' she added.

The company is closing its Hartwell Avenue distribution center ''because it wouldn't be feasible to expand the building,'' Roberson said. Customers will be referred to another center on Mall Road in Burlington. Most of the 70 employees in Lexington will be transferred to Wilmington. Others will work out of facilities in Needham and Framingham, she said.

Although FedEx is not saying anything about Hanscom, there are still concerns that plans for cargo flights could be revving up, said Enrich, Moll, and others.

Indeed, in its 2005-2015 environmental report on Hanscom, Massport forecasts that there could be 520 cargo operations in 2005 and 1,560 in 2015. The final report is expected to be filed with the state sometime next month.

The fact that cargo operations are mentioned in the environmental report could mean that it's only a matter of time before night flights begin, involving ''probably jets,'' Moll said. Meantime, he is researching homeowner complaints, he said, about noise generated by corporate jets at night.

Jet aircraft noise is a big problem, but ''surely FedEx, as a large and well-respected public company, will not want to associate itself with the desecration of America's birthplace,'' asserted Anna Winter, executive director of Save Our Heritage, a Concord-based historic preservation group.

''In fact, we wrote to them on this subject two years ago,'' Winter continued, ''and we received a gracious response from a FedEx board member, former Senator George Mitchell, stating that he would give our views 'careful consideration.' ''

This story ran on page 1 of the Boston Globe on 4/24/2003.
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