Bedford Minuteman
Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Shuttle America pulls out
Last route out of Bedford discontinued

By Barbara Forster / Correspondent

Shuttle America no longer flies the skies over Hanscom Field.

On Friday, June 11, the airline company announced that its only route -
service from Bedford to Trenton, N..J. - was history.

Citing the high cost of jet fuel and a desire to focus on more competitive
markets, the airline pulled the plug that day, thus ending almost five years
of service at the airport.

The news came as no surprise to Hanscom watchers.

"We've seen this coming for a long time," said Sarah Lazarus, spokesperson
for Safeguarding the Historic Hanscom Area's Irreplaceable Resources.
"Commercial aviation is not successful at Hanscom."

Recent passenger reports indicate that flights were far from fully packed.
In addition, the airline competed with Boston-Maine Airways, which began
service to Trenton in April.

"It's a wonderment that it didn't happen far, far sooner," added Lexington's
Peter Enrich, chairman of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission. "This is
the longest, most dragged out bad business decision I've ever watched."

In February, Shuttle America announced it was leaving Hanscom at the end of
April in order to concentrate on other markets. When the departure time was
later postponed to the end of May, Boston-Main stepped in to fill the gap.

But on March 8, Shuttle America reversed course, stating that "as a result
of overwhelming consumer response," flights would continue until further
notice. "Further notice" came about three months later.

Despite the news, Dave Fink, president of Boston-Maine, is confident his
business will succeed.

"There's no question this is profitable," he said. "We didn't go here to do
battle (with Shuttle America); we saw it as an opportunity."

The airline, which uses 19-seater planes, has seven daily operations.

"We're re-evaluating as to what additional service we can provide," added
Fink.

"There are still people who have frequent flights to Trenton," said Richard
Walsh of Massport. "We're happy that Boston-Maine is here."

Fink acknowledges that tickets prices and fuel costs are problems for the
industry in general.

"But that too will pass," he said.

In the meantime, Boston-Maine's $99 fare for advanced reservations is
intact. The company plans to change walkup fares soon.

Even with Shuttle America's exit, Hanscom watchers remain alert about
aviation operations at the airfield. However, the focus is jet traffic.

"Our biggest concern is the dramatic growth of jet traffic of which
commercial aviation is a small subset," said Rep. Jay Kaufman, adding that
Shuttle America's departure merely confirms the reality that Hanscom and
commercial aviation are not good business partners.

Shuttle America began operations at Hanscom in September 1999. However, the
relationship with the communities was always contentious and involved
several unsuccessful court battles. The first legal fight was launched
before planes left the ground.

Nevertheless in 2002, Shuttle America proposed flights to the Cape Cod. In
its heyday, the airline provided service to Albany and Buffalo, New York;
Hartford, Connecticut; Trenton, New Jersey; Greensboro/High
Point/Winston-Salem, and for a very limited time to LaGuardia.

Boston-Maine and Shuttle America are the most recent players in commercial
aviation at Hanscom. In the 1990s, Mohawk airlines operated at the airfield.
Over the years, various airlines including Continental Express and Business
Air also wanted to use the airfield. In 2001, three companies, Midway
Airlines, Pan Am, and USAir hoped to offer service from Bedford to
Raleigh-Durham, the Cape Islands, and to Philadelphia respectively.

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