BostonHerald.com
Tuesday, May 15, 2001
Activist groups fighting the expansion of commercial flights at Hanscom
Field in Bedford yesterday were feeling ``besieged'' after learning bankrupt
airline Shuttle America plans to relaunch flights to LaGuardia, and US
Airways Inc. plans to fly there, too.
Shuttle America, which scrapped the last of its six flights between the
suburban airport and LaGuardia earlier this month, plans to resume them on
June 15, spokesman Mark Cestari said yesterday. Cestari said Shuttle
America, which sought bankruptcy protection from creditors in April, plans
to start selling tickets for the renewed LaGuardia service within seven
days.
He said Shuttle America is in separate talks with two potential backers, but
declined to provide specifics.
Before cutting the service, Shuttle America's LaGuardia flights were
attracting few passengers. Cestari said the service was hurt by congestion
at LaGuardia and a lack of marketing.
Meanwhile, US Airways has upped the number of planned flights from Bedford
to its Philadelphia hub from three to four, and added plans to fly three
times a day between LaGuardia and Hanscom, Massport sources said. US Airways
is expected to make its plans known to the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission
tonight.
Midway Airlines Corp. plans to fly at least three round trips daily between
Hanscom and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Boston-Maine Airways, an affiliate of Pan American Corp., is looking to fly
as many as eight daily round trips between the Cape and Islands.
``Massport has now declared war on the communities and historic sites
surrounding Hanscom,'' said Anna Winter, the executive director of Save Our
Heritage, which opposes increasing numbers of flights at Hanscom.
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