By STEPHEN HAGAN
STAFF WRITER
In spite of comments over the past few days that Shuttle America’s Chapter
11 bankruptcy filing was due to poor management and sagging business, a
Massport spokesman said the airline will soon be back on track and ready to
compete.
Massport’s Jose Juves called last week’s news of Shuttle America’s
Chapter
11 bankruptcy filing and interest from Pan American and Midway Airlines in
passenger service at Hanscom Airport an "exciting time for Hanscom
Field."
He said airline watchers should not count Shuttle America, a
Connecticut-based airline, out.
"Shuttle America is looking to reorganize itself and potentially become
a
regional jet carrier," said Juves. "We know that the Hanscom flights
have
been profitable for the airline and that has sparked interest from Pan Am
and Midway."
Juves said residents from the four towns that make up Hanscom Field generate
about 400 trips a day in and out of the airport, something that has caught
the eye of the two new airlines and will continue to be eyed by Shuttle
America, as long as operations at the airline continue.
"It’s a community that travels quite a bit," he said. "That’s
a lucrative
market that any sensible airline will look at."
Juves described Hanscom as a general aviation airport that provides
"niche"
service to the area. He said area residents should recall that flight
activity at Hanscom is "well-below" the number of flights that used
the
airport in the 1970s. While 212,000 flight operations — takeoffs and
landings — took place at the airport last year, Juves said about 300,000
operations were recorded each year in the early ‘70s.
"In the 1970s Hanscom Airport was filled with about 300,000 operations
which
were predominately military aircraft, which were much louder than the planes
flying out of Hanscom today," said Juves.
In response to the question of whether Massport was trying to increase
operations at Hanscom, Juves said the regional agency has advocated a
regional approach to solve the area’s transportation needs.
""We’re looking for the bulk of passengers to go to T.F. Green
Airport (in
Rhode Island), Manchester (Airport in New Hampshire) Bradley (Airport) in
Connecticut and Worcester," said Juves. "Those airports have the
facilities
to handle the majority of the growth we will see in the next 10 years."
==========
**NOTICE: In accordance with 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.**
==========