Little late today on the posting, I had to catch an early flight from Boston today to Fort Lauderdale on JetBlue. First time on JetBlue, it really is pretty awesome. Airbus A320 (I think those were the numbers), plenty of leg room, great leather comfortable seats and Direct TV. Just had a chance to read the paper today inluding this story by Bob Nemeth. Now it looks like there may no be enough time to wrap up negotiations over the next 90 days, and we may "simply be extending the current operating agreement, with specific steps leading to the transfer"". I particularly like the title "The Clock is Ticking", wonder if he was refering to my countdown here on the blog which by the way says 90 days today.
What really bothers me in this story is that the reason for ORH's failure is blamed on us, the City of Worcester, for not supporting an East-West connector, in other words access road. Although I agree that an access road would have helped market the airport, it was management at ORH that has caused the consistent steady increasing losses at ORH with no passenger service. Look no further then Rockford, who has no access road but is succeeding faciing the same exact obstacles as ORH. Although MassPort has been a great help and should be thanked, we (tax-payers of Worcester) should also be thanked for the financial support (!,800,000 alone this year) as well and not be blamed for an access road that was not installed.
As far as the statement "there is no long line of suitors banging on the door", how can he say that? If you do not put a "FOR SALE" sign on your house, do you think people walk up and knock on your door with offers? All you need to do is look at Stewart, Tacoma Narrows and the recent mention of a Spanish company wanting Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee. Instead we are suppose to take IMG's word in their $100,000 report that there are no suitors, the same consultant we have paid over $200,000 to recruit and retain an airline with no success.
What really bothers me in this story is that the reason for ORH's failure is blamed on us, the City of Worcester, for not supporting an East-West connector, in other words access road. Although I agree that an access road would have helped market the airport, it was management at ORH that has caused the consistent steady increasing losses at ORH with no passenger service. Look no further then Rockford, who has no access road but is succeeding faciing the same exact obstacles as ORH. Although MassPort has been a great help and should be thanked, we (tax-payers of Worcester) should also be thanked for the financial support (!,800,000 alone this year) as well and not be blamed for an access road that was not installed.
As far as the statement "there is no long line of suitors banging on the door", how can he say that? If you do not put a "FOR SALE" sign on your house, do you think people walk up and knock on your door with offers? All you need to do is look at Stewart, Tacoma Narrows and the recent mention of a Spanish company wanting Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee. Instead we are suppose to take IMG's word in their $100,000 report that there are no suitors, the same consultant we have paid over $200,000 to recruit and retain an airline with no success.
Good to see, however, that the writer of this story mentions he has sat on the Airport Commission Board the last 8 years. Each year of which has seen the operating deficit increase.
7 comments:
I highly recommend 'Lauderdale by the Sea' as a resort to visit. Party on, Bill .....Party On !!
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
Hey check out the crankyflier blog, looks like ORH has been looked over by Skybus in favor of Portsmouth...
go figure.
You've got that right...............he sat on the board.....and that's about it.
Matt:
If you were Skybus would you come to Worcester, who do you negotiate with?? ORH, MassPort,IMG, a combination of MassPort/ORH or the City Manager.
Sorry about the silence but I was away. Working on a big blog to make up for it.
Bill
Hey, im not saying im surprised, just stating what i read. Portsmouth has at least been able to hang on to some airlines...and doesnt have the management/weather/many more problems that ORH does...we will se what happens in the coming weeks when they announce thier routes
Matt
again
thanks,
mat
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