Concord Journal
April 19, 2001
By Joseph Gibbs
STAFF WRITER
Shuttle America, which has operated passenger flight service at Hanscom
Field since September 1999, has announced that it is filing for Chapter 11
federal bankruptcy protection.
David Hackett, chief executive officer of the Windsor Locks, Conn.-based
airline, told the Associated Press that the company will continue operations
and honor all reservations while it restructures financially.
Hackett said the airline, which has operated for about two and a half years,
is negotiating with investors for $20 million in recapitalization, the AP
reported.
Until March the airline operated six daily round-trip flights between
Hanscom and New York’s LaGuardia Airport, and reportedly planned to add a
seventh. But that number decreased to two when the company struggled to meet
rising maintenance costs and fell behind on rent payments at its Trenton,
N.J., hub.
The airline also weathered sustained criticism, legal actions, and protests
from area activists and officials, including representatives of Minute Man
National Historical Park. All were opposed to increased air traffic at
Hanscom Field, the civilian portion of which is overseen by the
Massachusetts Port Authority.
The report of Shuttle America’s bankruptcy " affirms what the
communities
have been saying all along: that Hanscom is not a suitable place to try to
run a commercial passenger service, " Lexington Selectman Peter Enrich said
Tuesday.
Enrich, who chairs the Hanscom Area Towns Committee, comprised of officials
from Bedford, Concord, Lexington and Lincoln, noted that Shuttle America’s
venture " is not the first time a commercial air company has tried and
failed " at Hanscom.
" It’s one of a long series, " he said. " Both Massport and
future
prospective operators would do well to look at that history and realize that
this just isn’t the right use for this airport. "
Enrich also called the news " a vindication of the really unusual level
of
cooperation between the towns and citizen activists and [National] Park
Service all working together. I think we’ve sent a message. It appears that
if it hasn’t been heard by Massport then it’s been heard by those trying to
run a business. "
Kay Tiffany, a Lexington resident and spokesperson for Save the Historic
Hanscom Area’s Irreplaceable Resources (ShhAir), noted that local activism
included messages aimed at Shuttle America’s customers.
" Since Shuttle America’s flights began two years ago, " she
said, " we’ve
been steadfastly picketing and handing out leaflets to passengers at the
airport educating them about the damaging effects of passenger aviation on
the national park and the other landmarks that surround the airport, this
whole historic region … the birthplace of America. "
She said the campaign seemed to have worked, and that potential successors
to Shuttle America at Hanscom " would probably think twice about whether
they can make a profit. "
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**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.**
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Concord Journal
April 19, 2001
By Joseph Gibbs
STAFF WRITER
Despite Shuttle America’s fiscal woes, two other air carriers — Pan
American
Airways and Midway Airlines — are investigating Hanscom Air Field as a
potential site for passenger service.
Officials of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which oversees Hanscom’s
civil air terminal, were expected to announce and discuss the Pan Am
proposal at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Hanscom Field Advisory Committee.
Earlier that day, Massport spokesman José Juves confirmed that both carriers
had officially begun talks with the agency. He called the discussions "
another step in our regionalization effort to provide the flying public with
convenient alternatives to Logan airport. "
John Nadolny, senior vice-president of Portsmouth, N.H.-based Pan Am, said
Tuesday that any potential service from Hanscom would be offered by a Pan Am
affiliate, Boston-Maine Airways. The latter firm operates 19-passenger,
twin-turboprop British Aerospace Super Jetstream 31 aircraft.
Nadolny said Boston-Maine Airways currently operates contract-based charter
flights, but that it is in the process of upgrading its government
certification to a status which would allow it to provide scheduled service.
Because the process is expected to be finished only in the second quarter of
this year, he said that " we have not deployed anything in scheduled
service
yet, but we are looking at a variety of cities and destinations to serve. "
He noted that discussions of expansion to the Cape and Islands began shortly
after Pan Am recently began operating from Worcester Airport.
Nadolny cautioned, however, that no firm route objectives have yet been
made, and that any such proposals will come only after a variety of
locations and " service opportunities " are studied.
He added that Boston-Maine Airways is expected to deploy at least part of
its fleet into Florida, likely operating intra-state service through
Orlando-Sanford International Airport. A route connecting northern New
England to the Canadian maritime region is also being investigated, he said.
The Pan Am Web site notes that the firm is " currently negotiating with
various airports to expand destinations in order to meet passenger needs. "
Nadolny said Pan Am officials were pursuing their investigation of
possibilities at Hanscom even though " we all saw the stories about Shuttle
America. " That Hanscom-based passenger carrier recently filed for Chapter
11 federal bankruptcy protection.
Officials at Midway Airlines, based in Morrisville, N.C., were unavailable
for comment Tuesday. Juves said, however, that the firm had expressed "
preliminary interest in offering regional jet service from Hanscom to
Raleigh-Durham. "
The company’s Web site notes that besides Jetstream 31s, it operates Boeing
737-700s, 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets, and Fokker 100s.
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**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.**
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