The Boston Herald
Thursday, March 29, 2001

Hanscom line looks for help
by Greg Gatlin

Shuttle America Inc., which ran into financial turbulence this winter, is considering options to ``recapitalize the airline,'' including partnerships with other carriers and finding new investors, an airline spokesman said yesterday.

``We are looking at all kinds of options,'' said Mark Cestari, the spokesman. ``Under no circumstances do we anticipate not flying or the cessation of flights at Hanscom Field.''

Cestari would not say whether the carrier is weighing a bid for bankruptcy court protection. ``Some of the active options include partnerships with other carriers . . . new investment. We're looking at different reorganization plans.''

Shuttle America next week will cut the number of round-trip flights between Hanscom and New York's LaGuardia Airport to one - down from six recently.

New York Port Authority data show the number of passengers flying the route dropped 35 percent from November to December, and another 13 percent in January before surging about 77 percent last month.

Shuttle America ran into some financial snags last winter. As a result, Cestari said, the airline postponed plans to add as many as eight planes.

Factors that contributed to the financial pinch included high fuel costs, political and legal hang-ups in starting service to delay-prone LaGuardia and extensive maintenance on two planes, Cestari said. He said demand for other routes remains strong, although Shuttle America has cut two other flights, out of Trenton, N.J.

Anna Winter, executive director of Save Our Heritage, a group that has fought commercial airline service out of Hanscom, said frequent picketing at the airfield has taken a toll on the carrier.

Winter said the airline's woes show commercial service at Hanscom doesn't work. But a Massport spokesman noted that the carrier flew some 160,000 people to and from Hanscom in 2000.

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