Concord Journal
Wednesday, June 4, 2003

Letter: Corporate jets are the problem

Craig Coy's recent guest column is nothing but self-serving dis-information. "Flights consist mostly of small student aircraft," he says.

I've lived in Concord Center since 1977 and can say emphatically that it's not about the small planes - it's about corporate jets. At times, these are taking off at a rate of one jet every minute or two, and the difference in noise level in Concord is dramatic - perhaps five times the levels of 1980, from this observer's perspective. The aircraft noise 25 years ago was not bothersome. Today, it's destructive.

Mr. Coy invokes the memory of the Wright Brothers and Charles Lindbergh to push his view that this is all about progress. Unfortunately, it's really about the needless sacrifice of historic and natural resources that belong to all Americans for the convenience of an elite. We should not be encouraging a form of air travel that provides an advantage for a few privileged executives while making the lives of thousands miserable. The notion that it's "progress" that a single executive can fly in what amounts to a private capsule from Hanscom - often to a meeting somewhere on the East Coast - is simply preposterous. Corporate jet travel needs to be put in the same category as the grossly excessive pay of so many corporate executives.

No one is saying that we shouldn't have airline travel. Let's just be sensible about it. And, where there are burdens, let these be shared, especially by the users of these services. Hanscom has been the second busiest airport in New England for many years. Corporate jet flights here have tripled since 1995. Last time I looked, the Providence, Manchester, and
(especially) Worcester airports were all under capacity. Can't we distribute the load to these other airports? Or does Massport just want all the traffic on its own tarmac?

Mr. Coy, will you please try to create some vision that extends beyond the end of your nose? We could start with a regional transportation plan, including lobbying for a faster Amtrak link to NYC. We should be looking for ways to reduce corporate jet travel, not increase it.

Charles Parker
Chestnut Street, Concord

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Concord Journal
Wednesday, June 4, 2003

Letter: There are better ways to travel

Although I hesitate to lump together last week's essay by the Rev. Hudson and the self-serving opinion piece by Massport CEO, Mr. Coy, there were similar themes which beg to be addressed.

Unquestioning support for the "freedom" of unfettered expansion of aviation is not smart transportation or environmental policy. There are better ways to connect people that are not so harmful to the urban, suburban and global environments, such as high speed rail and teleconferencing. (Studies indicate that high-altitude carbon dioxide emissions by airplanes have a proportionately greater effect on global warming than emissions that occurs closer to the ground.)

Air travel should be reserved for emergencies, public safety and long-haul transportation (over 300-400 miles), and planes should be full. Corporate jets serve the elite rich at the expense of ordinary folk and our habitat. In a more responsible society, none of us would have the luxury of traveling exactly where we want to go, when we want to go. Rather, we would "bear the [inconvenience] burden" in order to preserve a healthy environment for all.

The reason we have cheap trips to grandma's is because of the billions and billions of federal dollars granted routinely to the aviation industry, thanks to powerful lobbying and short-sighted congressmen in Washington. Rail subsidies amount to a minuscule fraction of those for aviation. Image what an efficient rail system we could have if the allocations were reversed.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of ShhAir, I invite Rev. Hudson to meet with us to better understand the positions of those fighting Hanscom expansion, rather than relying on metropolitan media coverage and statements from Massport.

Leslie Fisher
Middle Street, Concord
Board member, ShhAir

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Concord Journal
June 19, 2003

Letter: CEO should say sorry, or resign

To the editor:

When Craig Coy was appointed executive director of Massport and he came a hearing in Bedford to hear how concerned were the communities about Massport plans for expanding the Hanscom Airport, we thought Massport finally had a person in charge who was responsible and sensitive to its special location.

We were mistaken. Two weeks ago Mr. Coy published a column in local press, rabid with anger that the National Park and our historic communities had been designated by The National Trust for Historic Preservation as environmentally endangered. The National Trust is not alone. Scenic America gave the area a similar designation a few months ago. Objective, national organizations are united in their view that Massport is doing damage to valuable U.S. cultural and historic sites by aggressively growing Hanscom Airport.

Massport has for years maintained it as a facility for small aircraft, occasional military activity for national security needs, and as seldom-used emergency relief for Logan. This policy is now about to be broken. Massport is clearing the ends of runways, trying to attract business jets, planning for the introduction of regular cargo operations, re-paving the apron, and fixing up the parking lot and the terminal for the introduction of more passenger traffic. A fancy new tower has been built at Hanscom Airport by the FAA.

It is erroneous and deceptive for Massport officials to make public statements that it is business as usual at Hanscom. Jet traffic and night activity have skyrocketed. We hear Massport has entertained inquiries from FedEx that would, for the first time, introduce regularly scheduled, night and early morning cargo flights. This would substantially change the nature of this airport, these historic places and these towns.

It is unbecoming for Mr. Coy to rant and rave about "professional activists," when the warning comes from well-established national institutions, and when dedicated volunteers, elected community officials and four town meetings have sent him a clear message. Bedford, Concord, Lexington and Lincoln, and our area congressional and state legislators want the growth of Hanscom Airport controlled in the national interest.

Mr. Coy should disavow the Massport public relations people who drafted his column, and he should apologize. If Mr. Coy cannot reconcile with this position, if he can't work with the communities, if he has no respect for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, then he should resign, or the board of Massport should find another leader.

Sarah S. Lazarus
Main Street

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