The Bedford Minuteman
January 24, 2002

Flights near magic number

By Barbara Forster, Correspondent

Hanscom Field is very close to reaching the magic number: 48 daily commercial operations.

" We have said that we wouldn’t allow ‘No. 49’ until a further environmental review was done, " said Richard Walsh of the Massachusetts Port Authority said at the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission meeting Tuesday night in Bedford.

Shuttle America, operating under a co-share agreement with US Airways, currently has six daily flights from Hanscom to Trenton and five to Philadelphia. However, the airline plans to add five flights to Westchester/White Plains in early March and seven to LaGuardia Airport later in the month.

The new flights would bring the total to 46.

But Boston-Maine Airlines is poised to launch additional commercial service at the field and those flights break the 48 barrier. The airline, which originally expressed interest in Hanscom last year, has received certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, but because it has not yet received an amended OpSpecs, the airline does not have a contract with Massport.

The airline proposes two flights to Atlantic City with continuous service to Baltimore and Washington and five flights to Westchester. They will use 19-seater planes.

Walsh noted that the additional environmental review process was started last year after three airlines, US Airways, Boston-Maine and Midway, expressed interest in flying out of Hanscom. When the trio backed out, the review stopped, too.

" We have asked the consultants to look at this again, " said Walsh.

Massport expects to have a timetable for the review process available shortly; the schedule will include time for public comment.

The review will most likely include an analysis of the commercial fleet mix and noise as well as the number of passengers, the number of vehicles trips, and the impact on the roadway system. In describing the analysis as an " internal review, " Walsh stressed that that this was not comparable to an environmental notification form that would go to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act office. " It’s a public disclosure process, " he added.

Look to the skies

The Thunderbirds, the Air Force’s aerial performers, will return to Hanscom this June for the first time since 1997. The Air Force announced that an air show is scheduled for the first weekend in June with a practice day on Friday, May 31.

Planning for the popular event is in the early stages but police and fire departments in the four Hanscom communities are on the list of people to be called.

Although the Federal Aviation Administration has lifted the 300-foot barrier requirement — cars at airports like Hanscom had to be 300 feet from the terminal — airport visitors are not home free. Walsh reported that the State Police is conducting random road blocks and checking identification.

Walsh added that Massport did not seek a waiver from the ruling.

Moreover, Walsh said the agency is not talking to Southwest Airlines about flying out of Hanscom. " If Massport is chasing Southwest it¹s to get them at Worcester, " he said.

Noise report

The total number of operations between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. in December 2001 increased 17 percent as compared to December 2000. Increases were across the board, including military activity.

However, the twin/turbo prop category — planes like the ones used by Shuttle America — were up 16 percent from 1,400 to 1,620. Business jet activity increased 50 percent from 1,463 to 2,190.

Night flights, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., decreased slightly and noise complaints also dropped from 618 to 475.

Noise levels went up, too. The civilian departure EXP for December 2001 was 112.3 decibels, an increase of 1.7 decibels as compared to the previous year.

EXP is a metric that evaluates changes in the fleet mix and number of operations, distinguishes civilian noise from military noise, and indicates changes in total noise exposure which reflect changes in the Day-Night Average Sound Level (Ldn). The figures are the result of logarithmic computations.

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