Bedford Minuteman
Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Letter: Massport agenda: increase flights

Shuttle America is leaving Hanscom Field for good.

As you read reports of this development, please be aware of two
inconsistencies reported by the press.

First, according to Shuttle America's chief executive, Scott Durgin, quoted
in the Feb. 4 edition of the Boston Globe (Shuttle America shutting down
service at Hanscom Field), "[i]t was an incredibly painful decision to leave
Bedford because the Trenton route has been profitable."

This is simply not true. The load factor for Shuttle America's
Bedford-Trenton, N.J. flights has consistently ranged between 30 and 40
percent over the past two years, compared with load factors approaching 50
percent for their Pittsburgh operations. (Source: Shuttle America's monthly
operations reports submitted to Massport and Trenton-Mercer Airport's
monthly operations reports. Both of these sources provide data for numbers
of passengers and operations.)

The truth is, Shuttle America has been using its Pittsburgh profits to
subsidize the money-losing Hanscom operation. There's no valid business
rationale for this.

The logical conclusion long suspected by Hanscom-watchers is that Massport
has been giving Shuttle America some kind of special deal to keep them at
Hanscom. Presumably, Massport has been using propped-up scheduled passenger
service at Hanscom to justify building an extra runway at Logan Airport. Can
it be mere coincidence that this announcement from Shuttle America comes
just four days after a federal appeals court gave Massport the go-ahead for
construction of its controversial fifth Logan runway?

The second inconsistency is illustrative of Massport's long history of
untruthfulness. Massport's Mr. Walsh and others have long assured Hanscom's
neighbors and HFAC representatives in public meetings that Massport does not
deliberately woo airlines to use Hanscom but is obligated to respond to
inquiries that come its way. Yet, we read in this same Boston Globe article
that Massport "will continue to try to attract a regional airline to the
airport as part of its long-standing effort to ease congestion at Logan
International Airport."

Massport's duplicity is palpable. Once again, we have evidence of how vital
it is to be vigilant about every statement that Massport makes. Despite what
the agency says to the contrary, Massport's agenda is to increase air
traffic throughout our entire region, at Logan and at Hanscom, without
regard to the needs of the local communities.

Lori Eggert
Bonnievale Road

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