MetroWest Daily News
March 19, 2003

The Hanscom alternative
Save Our Heritage objects to noise levels

By Craig M. Douglas, News Business Writer

BEDFORD -- Companies seeking cheaper and hassle-free travel for their employees fueled a 35 percent increase in business jet flights at Hanscom Field last year, according to the Massachusetts Port Authority.

The regional airport, which straddles Bedford, Concord, Lexington and Lincoln, handled about 218,000 total takeoffs and landings in 2002, a 6 percent increase over 2001's 206,000 flights.

While many of the liftoffs were "touch-and-go" operations by flight-school students, Massport said a majroity of Hanscom's growth came from business flights, which rose by nearly 8,000 to 30,797 in 2002.

"What really factored into this growth was twofold," said Jose Juves, a Massport spokesman. "First, we saw a rise in 'fractional ownership' of airplanes among local companies. You could equate it to a time-share for airplanes, only companies are the ones sharing all of the costs.

"Second, since 9/11, the increased security had businesses looking for alternatives to flying commercially. Business jets were a common option."

With fractional ownership, companies can purchase access to specific types of jets for predetermined amounts of time, a cost-efficient strategy and a popular alternative to traditional business travel.

Massport said the increased lfight activity only resulted in a 3 to 4 percent increase in rush-hour traffic around Hanscom, while aircraft noise impacts, as defined by the Federal Avation Administration, remained almost entirely within the airport's boundaries.

"That's completely based on a faulty premise," said Marty Pepper Aisenberg, spokesman for Save Our Heritage, an environmental protection group based in Concord. "You can talk to any neighbor of the airport, and they will tell you the FAA's noise guidelines are not consistent with reality."

According to Pepper Aisenberg, 80 percent of Hanscom's noise stems from charter companies' jets, the planes used under the fractional system. With only 10,000 jet flights in 1996 and more than three times that amount in 2002, Hanscom, Pepper Aisenberg claims, has become nothing but a noisy playground for the rich and entitled classes.

"We're talking about a relatively small number of wealthy individuals and companies being responsible for a vastly disproportionate amount of noise and pollution. From our point of view, this is having a negative impact on the national park of the American Revolution," he said.

While Save Our Heritage has vowed to fight continued airline expansion at Hanscom, Massport's Juves said the numbers prove 2002 was a positive year for both travelers and airport neighbors in Massachusetts.

"This is good news. Our studies show a minimum impact to the environment and surrounding communities," he said. "That's why we spend all this time and money on environmental studies."

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