Boston Herald
Friday, April 27, 2001
One if by land, two if by sea, three if by air.
Yesterday, the phones rang and the fliers flew around the Lexington, Concord
and surrounding towns. Neighbors told neighbors to head for the Concord Town
Green by 7 p.m. to meet the encroaching airlines head-on and about 250
showed up for a fight. Even ``Paul Revere'' rode into town to warn of the
harm to historic sites around Bedford's Hanscom Field that activists claim
increased flights will cause.
Executives from Boston-Maine Airways - an affiliate of Pan American Airlines
Corp. - and Midway Airlines Corp., along with officials from the
Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Hanscom, briefed area selectmen
last night on plans for new flights from the air field. Boston-Maine wants
to fly eight round-trips between Hanscom and the Cape and Islands. In the
off-season, it may run four flights to the Cape and four to Westchester,
N.Y. Midway said it would fly three round-trips between Raleigh-Durham,
N.C., and Hanscom, but may want to expand that to five.
Meanwhile, Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines confirmed it remains interested in
launching Hanscom flights. Spokeswoman Michelle Haynes said the airline,
which flies out of Logan and elsewhere, has no immediate Hanscom plans, but
``will watch with a great deal of interest.''
A battalion of protesters positioned themselves on nearby Concord Town Green
to stage a candlelight vigil.
Inside, area selectmen ripped Massport for not allowing enough time for
public input into the proposed new flights. They said the official
notification will be May 15 and MassPort can approve the plan two days
later.
``How in the world can you honestly say that is a public process?'' asked
Sara Mattes, a Lincoln selectwoman.
Massport spokesman Jose Juves said the agency has an open dialog with
community officials and residents and only wants flights that have gone
through environmental analysis.
``You have to remember that at the end of the day, Hanscom Field is an
airport,'' Juves said.
Airline officials don't appear to be intimidated by activists' warnings that
new flights will be met with loud protests and picketing.
Boston-Maine President David Fink responded in an April 23 letter to Save
Our Heritage, saying despite the ``rhetoric and threats,'' the airline
intends to move forward with plans to add service out of Hanscom to the Cape
and Islands, and other cities are realistic possibilities.
``We would welcome the opportunity for your organization to make our humble
business plans into a news event, and to thereby publicize our company, its
schedules and destinations,'' he wrote.
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