Shuttle America shutting down service at Hanscom Field

Boston Globe
February 4, 2004

By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent

In a move that suburban activists viewed as a victory in their efforts to
preserve historic sites around Hanscom Field, the only commercial passenger
airline at the airport in Bedford said yesterday it is ending service there
on May 1.

But a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns and
operates Hanscom, said it will continue to try to attract a regional airline
to the airport as part of its longstanding effort to ease congestion at
Logan International Airport.

Scott Durgin, chief executive of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Shuttle America,
which does business as US Airways Express, said yesterday the airline has
decided to depart Bedford for good so that it can beef up its operations in
and out of Pittsburgh, where it has 105 daily flights.

"It was an incredibly painful decision to leave Bedford because the Trenton
route has been profitable," he said. "But we want to build on our
relationship with US Airways."

The airline notified the US Department of Transportation Jan. 30 about its
intention to sever its ties to Hanscom.

Shuttle America, which helped galvanize community opposition to commercial
service at Hanscom from the time it landed in September 1999, once had as
many as 18 roundtrips a day from the airport to five cities. But service had
dwindled to its current four daily roundtrips to Trenton, N.J., which will
continue until the airline ceases operations at the airport.

Portsmouth, N.H.-based Boston-Maine Airways had a short run at Hanscom,
ending its service abruptly last spring.

Local activists who oppose commercial air service at Hanscom applauded the
decision. Arguing that such flights degrade the environment and
Revolutionary War battle sites near the airport, they had made Shuttle
America a lighting rod for protest. "I'm delighted to hear the news because
we've always said that Hanscom Field is not appropriate for commercial
aviation," said Sara Mattes, chairwoman of the Hanscom Area Towns Committee,
made up of selectmen from Bedford, Concord, Lexington, and Lincoln, the
communities surrounding the airfield. Mattes is a Lincoln selectwoman.

Anna Winter, executive director of Save Our Heritage, a Concord-based
historic preservation group, said in a prepared statement: "Through rallies,
court cases, picketing, and national outreach, we have sent a clear message
that commercial aviation does not belong, and will never succeed, at
Hanscom. And to protect [the area's] historic sites from having to face more
of these unfortunate battles, we will not rest until federal legislation is
enacted to limit the growth of this airport once and for all."

But Winter, Mattes, and other opponents emphasized that while the commercial
aviation battle may be over for now, the war against corporate jet activity
at Hanscom is ongoing. They noted that Federal Express Corp. is considering
the airport for cargo flights. The decision by Shuttle America to depart
Hanscom comes four days after Massport won a legal battle to build a fifth
runway at Logan in order to cut down on delays there.

==========
**NOTICE: In accordance with 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.**
==========