Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Friday, April 16, 2004

Massport sticks with Worcester
City must pick up part of airport deficit

By Martin Luttrell, T&G Staff

The Massachusetts Port Authority has agreed to extend its operation of
Worcester Regional Airport for another three years, allowing completion of a
master plan and a study under way by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The authority will also continue to pay all of the airport's operating
deficit - now at $2.3 million - for the next fiscal year. The amendment to
the current five-year agreement calls for Massport's obligation on the
operating deficit to drop to 85 percent in the second year of the extension
and 68 percent in fiscal year 2007.

"With two major studies under way to determine its future, Worcester
Regional Airport is at a critical crossroad," Massport CEO Craig P. Coy
said. "It makes sense for Massport to continue to manage and operate the
airport as all stakeholders work together to chart a course for the future."

Interim City Manager Michael V. O'Brien said that with the current economic
climate and downturn in the commercial aviation industry after 9-11, the
city is not in a position to operate the airport itself.

The Massport board approved the amendment at its meeting yesterday. The
Worcester Regional Airport Commission authorized Chairman Michael Amir to
sign the amendment. The agreement will go before the City Council at its
April 27 meeting.

"This agreement is critical for the state's success in implementing a
coordinated transportation plan," Mr. Amir said. "This agreement is an
important step in the right direction to make this a viable airport that we
can all be proud of."

U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, who was credited by the city and
Massport with helping to negotiate the amendment, pointed out that if the
city had to absorb the $2.3 million operating deficit, there would have been
layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters.

"Instead of preparing for catastrophe, today we celebrate the renewal of a
partnership with Massport that will guide this airport through at least July
1, 2007.

"... There are a number of low-cost commercial carriers that are entering
markets now that they did not dare to compete in before. With this renewed
commitment from Massport, the Worcester Regional Airport will be
well-positioned to take advantage of these market opportunities as
developments continue to unfold."

Massport's partnership with the city began in 1995 with a technical
assistance agreement to help the airport develop effective strategies and
programs for operations, capital improvements, ground access and community
and marketing issues. Massport formally began an operating agreement with
the city in 1999.

The 5-year agreement called for Massport to operate and manage the airport
and pay the airport's operating deficit.

Worcester Regional Airport has been without scheduled airport service since
February 2003, when US Airways pulled out. Efforts to bring in new
commercial air service have failed.

The current agreement with Massport stipulates that plans for an access road
to the airport, from Interstate 290 or from the Massachusetts Turnpike, must
be in place before the agency considers acquiring title to the airport.

Neither the master plan nor the FAA study will address where an access road
would be, Mr. Amir said. The $400,000 master plan is being funded 90 percent
through an FAA grant and the remaining 10 percent through a grant from the
Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, he said.

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Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Sunday, April 18, 2004

Renewed flight plan
Airport agreement puts onus on Worcester

With U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern stepping in as chief negotiator, Worcester
and the Massachusetts Port Authority have sealed a deal that, for the time
being, pulls Worcester Regional Airport back from the brink of extinction.

Massport, which has operated the airport and covered its deficits under a
five-year agreement, will continue its involvement for another three years,
sparing Worcester the full burden of potential $2 million-plus annual
deficits.

Massport’s decision to renew the partnership was part political, part
enlightened self-interest. Federal approval for the new runway at Logan
International Airport was contingent on development of a regional air
transportation network involving Worcester and other airports.

But in practical terms Massport also knows that it will need a system of
reliever airports to avoid gridlock when air travel recovers to pre-Sept. 11
levels and beyond.

That said, the new agreement is not a cause for complacency, but a spur to
urgent action. Massport CEO Craig P. Coy noted, correctly, that it makes
sense for the agency to stay involved while two major studies of the airport
’s prospects and potential are under way, “as all stakeholders work together
to chart a course for the future.”

Worcester policy-makers, spurred by City Councilor Frederick C. Rushton,
have made progress on a key element of Worcester’s responsibility: endorsing
efforts to establish the convenient access that airlines repeatedly have
told Massport and city officials they need to succeed in Worcester. However,
the complex, crushingly expensive Cambridge Street route the council has
focused on is, by most accounts, dead on arrival at the Statehouse.

As Mr. McGovern and others have noted, Worcester’s airport is an
irreplaceable asset with the potential to be an important part of the region
’s air transportation system. Worcester must respond to Massport’s renewed
commitment with a renewed, vigorous commitment of its own to help to make
that happen.

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