MetroWest Daily News
April 18, 2001
By COLLEEN BRUSH
METROWEST NEWS BUSINESS WRITER
BEDFORD - Embattled Shuttle America declared bankruptcy yesterday, a
potential setback in the Massachusetts Port Authority’s controversial
efforts to boost Hanscom Field as a regional alternative to Logan
International Airport.
But before preservationists and environmental activists had a chance to
celebrate a rout near historic Concord battlefields, two other airlines
announced plans to fly from Hanscom, and Shuttle America said it planned to
continue 24 flights a day from the airfield.
Pan Am, now a small commercial airline based in Portsmouth, N.H., wants to
fly from Hanscom to Cape Cod and the Islands.
Midway Airlines, a large regional carrier, envisions flying to
Raleigh-Durham, linking the Rte. 128 technology belt with another high-tech
epicenter, Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. Neither airline has
received approvals from Massport or the Federal Aviation Administration.
Shuttle America plans to continue its 24 flights a day from Hanscom, without
any changes or cutbacks in service, a spokesman said. The airline flies to
LaGuardia Airport in New York City; Trenton, N.J.; Greensboro, N.C.; and
Buffalo, N.Y.
Shuttle America officials said the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection to tackle the massive debt the start-up airline took on to get
off the ground.
" We built up quite a bit of debt on the balance sheet trying to start
in
new markets, " said Mark Cestari, a spokesman. " The company has been
profitable on an operating basis. We have a solid business, but a weak
balance sheet. "
The Chapter 11 allows Shuttle America to keep operating while paying off
debts. The airline is looking for investors or to partner with another
airline, Cestari said.
Shuttle America’s expansion with LaGuardia service last fall was stalled
initially because of delays at the congested New York airport, scaring
hundreds of potential passengers away.
If Pan Am and Midway get the OK for Hanscom, it will enrage opponents of
commercial flights out of the airport that borders Minuteman National
Historical Park and is near Walden Pond.
" Massport’s actions are both transparent and clandestine. They have
always
operated this way with the communities, " said Anna Winter, executive
director of Save Our Heritage, one of the community opposition groups.
Massport officials, who are trying to boost regional airports as part of a
delicate political effort to build a new runway at Logan, said Pan Am and
Midway contacted Massport about flying from Hanscom last week.
While Massport officials did monitor Shuttle America’s passenger load from
monthly tallies, Massport spokesman Jose Juves said the agency knew nothing
of the bankruptcy plans until yesterday morning.
" It is regrettable that all this is happening at the same time, "
Juves
said. " It is an exciting time for Hanscom Field, to have these valuable
new
services. But it is being a bit overshadowed by Shuttle America’s problems.
"
Pan Am already flies to Orlando from Worcester Regional Airport, where
Massport is also trying draw more airlines and passengers to ease the load
on Logan.
Dan Fortnam, vice president of marketing at Pan Am, said the airline has
wanted to make a move to Hanscom for several years.
" We had preliminary opening interest expressed with Massport.
Overnight,
the news with Shuttle America has accelerated the interest in our service,
"
Fortnam said.
Midway officials could not be reached for comment.
Opposition groups from the surrounding towns of Bedford, Concord, Lexington,
and Lincoln said they will fight harder to keep other airlines from flying
out of Hanscom.
" It is clear that commercial air service is inappropriate, unwelcome,
and
now proven to be unsuccessful, " Winter said.
" We put up a fight with Shuttle America, and we are going to fight
equally
hard, if not harder, if any other airlines come on the scene. "
Shuttle America officials deny that protests had anything to do with the
airline’s financial woes.
" This is no vindication of any such effort, " Cestari said. "
That was not
a factor in this. This is a corporate and financial restructuring. "
==========
**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.**
==========