The Concord Journal
September 20, 2001

Flights resume at Hanscom Field
By Barbara Forster, Correspondent

The sounds of airplanes over the four Hanscom-area communities are back but
with a difference, both on the ground and in the air.

When the airfield officially reopened Saturday, following last week’s
terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., Shuttle America
took to the skies but with smaller operations. In the first week, the
airline had three daily flights to Trenton, N.J., and one to Buffalo, N.Y.
Starting Monday, the numbers go up to seven and three.

In week one, the airline was down to a single plane; the second was due in
last Tuesday.

" We hope to restore all flights including those to LaGuardia before the end
of the year, " said Mark Cestari, Shuttle America spokesman.

Getting back to business was a start-and-stop situation for the airline. At
8 a.m. on Sept. 13, Hanscom showed up on " open " list provided by the
Federal Aviation Administration. At noon, Massport told the airline flights
could begin at 4 p.m. but shortly beforehand Cestari learned that the
go-ahead was rescinded.

During that four-hour window, the airline placed radio ads for Friday
announcing that planes were in the air. The order was canceled but,
according to Cestari, several spots ran in error on Friday.

Driving up to Hanscom’s civil air terminal is no longer possible. Direct
vehicular access to the road going past the terminal is roped off, and to
keep vehicles 300 feet away from the terminal, the first five rows of
parking, approximately 150 spaces, are blocked off.

Barriers are set up to prevent vehicles from pulling into the empty spaces
and no vehicles are allowed to drive past the terminal. Shuttle buses, cabs,
and private cars discharge passengers at the edge of the 300-foot mark.

State Police are very visible inside and outside the terminal. According to
spokesman Richard Walsh, Massport and Shuttle America will split the bill
for increased police protection.

Secondary entrances to the building also have been secured.

Inside the terminal

Like airline passengers across the country, Hanscom users can expect tighter
security at the terminal.

Carry-on bags will be opened and checked baggage will be examined closely,
too. A sign in the security area warns passengers that laptop computers must
be removed from their cases for examination.

Shuttle America picks up the tab for these measures, according to Massport.

Increased security translates into longer wait times before boarding a
plane, but " long " at Logan isn’t the same as " long " at Hanscom.

" We used to say that passengers could check in a minimum of 10 minutes
before flight time, " Cestari said. " Now the minimum is 30 minutes. "

Despite the changes, fiscal losses during the shutdown — Cestari describes
them as significant —increased security costs and an apprehensive public,
the airline executive is optimistic. Acknowledging that business traffic
will be soft for a while, Cestari nevertheless theorizes that being small
could attract those who are uncomfortable about using jumbo jets out of the
big airports.

On the practical side, the airline, which had money problems several months
ago, had received a financial infusion before the disaster on Sept. 11.

" Because of the (fiscal) restructuring, we are a fraction of our former
size, but that happened before Tuesday, " he said. " We will slowly grow
back. "

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