July 19, 2007

Logan

Drove a friend of mine yesterday morning at 4:00AM to Logan for his flight to Orlando on JetBlue. It was his first flight on JetBlue and loved it, by the way. That is not the purpose of the blog,

First, he would have used Allegiant to Sanford from ORH if they were still here. Second the tolls alone from Route 146 and back cost $9.20. Now you add my time, inconvenience and cost of gas etc what would the cost be??? All I am trying to say is that a Cape Air flight code sharing with JetBlue would be quite attractive.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have a friend?

Anonymous said...

Bill, Jetblue has flights leaving Boston as 07:00a, 07:50a, 08:45a, 09:00a, 09:50a, 10:00a, 11:35a, 01:50p, 02:00p, 02:50p, 03:10p, 03:10p, 03:35p, 04:00p, 04:20p, 04:50p, 04:50p, 06:35p, 06:40p, 06:45p, 07:30p, 07:40p, 07:45p, 07:55p, 08:00p, 08:45p, 08:50p and 08:55p.

What time do you suggest for this ORH-BOS flight?

- CF

Anonymous said...

With or without code sharing we should have Cape Air flying to the Cape and the islands. I was going to Marthas Vineyard last week but decided against it because I didn't want to drive down, catch the ferry all for 2 days. I much rather fly into the airport and get picked up at the airport there.

I wonder when we will hear something new about the future of ORH.

Bill Randell said...

Anonymous:

Very funny.. Who knows maybe you are a friend of mine, but since we do not know who you are?

Charley, your point???? There are alot of flights leaving from Boston so Cape Air would surely fill their plane if there was a flight to Boston from Logan.

Tim, I agree 100% with you.

Anonymous said...

What continues to puzzle me is how there is round trip bus service from cape cod to TF Green , yet cape air also provides the same route coverage. Can the bus be that much less expensive plus the added hassle of the add'l time, etc involved via bus??

What am I missing here? What if cape cod air starts shuttling between ORH and Logan.....will bus service then show up along the same route, too?

Anonymous said...

Article from yesterday's Telegram; just think if ORH had any commercial airlines, the flight crew could have stayed at this hotel and saved it from going out of business !!!!!




Jul 18, 2007

Worcester Hotel plans to close because of market conditions

By Bob Kievra TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
rkievra@telegram.com





WORCESTER— The Worcester Hotel & Convention Center at 500 Lincoln St., a former Holiday Inn frequently used for area meetings and events, will close at the end of the month, officials said yesterday.

The 142-room hotel will suspend operations July 27 after unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer, said Ralph V. Izzi Jr., marketing communications director for the hotel’s owner, The Procaccianti Group of Cranston, R.I.

The Procaccianti Group purchased the hotel in 2005 and had been expected to announce an extensive renovation and upgrade to the hotel.


But the company in early 2006 said it was putting the hotel up for sale.

Citing market conditions, Mr. Izzi said the hotel “was not able to perform at a level that made sense to maintain operations.”

The 35-year-old hotel, which opened under the Sheraton brand, was once a primary destination for events and workshops and has almost 25,000 square feet of function room space and free parking for 600 cars. But those in the hospitality industry said the facility had not kept pace with newer hotels and conference space added to Worcester in recent years.

Mr. Izzi said the hotel no longer fits with the company’s long-term strategy of acquiring and operating upscale properties. The closing comes after more than a year’s effort to find a buyer and is no reflection on the dedicated employees who worked at the facility for many years, he said.

“It’s been for sale a long time but nobody came forward,” he said.

In March 2007 the hotel became a limited service facility after ending its operation of a hotel restaurant, lounge and room service. It continued to provide catering for business and social events.

Some of the 35 full- and part-time employees have taken jobs at the company’s other Central Massachusetts hotels in Leominster and Boxboro. Mr. Izzi said those with scheduled events such as wedding receptions were notified of the closure. If they wanted, he said, the business was shifted to other Procaccianti Group hotels.

“There haven’t been any issues,” he said.

The hotel’s closing caught some longtime patrons by surprise.

“I found out yesterday and we book six months out,” said Karen L. Cronenberger, manager of training and development for CMEA — The Employers Association. The Worcester nonprofit, which books three to four events at the hotel monthly, has used the facility for over 20 years. She said hotel staff gave no indication that a closure was imminent.

“It’s a shame because it was a good spot, right off (Interstate) 290 with plenty of parking. It had a variety of conference rooms to choose from,” she said.

The 10-acre hotel parcel is assessed for $11.3 million, according to the city assessor’s office. Mr. Izzi said the company is considering possible future use of the land site, which is zoned for business.

F. Patrick Lynch Jr., executive director of Destination Worcester, a marketing entity created this year to lure more patrons to the city’s restaurants and hotels, said the demise of the hotel, while unfortunate, does not hinder his work. He said the Lincoln Street hotel was on the periphery of the city and most of those attending convention and trade shows at the DCU Center prefer to use hotels closer to the downtown.

Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA

Anonymous said...

Just an idea :

Went to the Million Air website. They are a fixed base operator that sell franchises. Take a look at the site. AAA ,classy , outfit.
Could we get a group of aviation businessmen or enthusiasts to invest? Could be just the right direction to start turning around the airport.

Anonymous said...

vjdyahThat hotel was originally planned to be a Ramada Inn back in early 70's. It was built by Cuzzy Mingolla of Pleasant Valley Country Club and Bayer & Mingolla Industries fame.
It sits on the site of the first and second holes of the former Lincoln Golf Course. There was never a liqour license there but the beer flowed freely for all the golfers at the club house which was a 30 ft square brick shack. Cops, firemen and teachers all enjoyed a round of golf and then an inexpensive round of illegal drinks! Now take a look at Green Hill and the booze situation up there. How times have changed. The old Lincoln fairways were also a great place after dark for the kids to toss down a couple of GIQ's.

Bill Randell said...

GIQ.

For those of you who were not brought up in a liquor store it stand for Gansett Imperial Quart (GIQ).

Anonymous said...

GIANT Imperial Quart and other brands may have sold them too.

Best buy on a per ounce basis

Bill Randell said...

Anonymous:

You may be right but my Dad always told me Gansett Imperial Quart?

Anonymous said...

Bill Randell said...

"Charley, your point???? There are alot of flights leaving from Boston so Cape Air would surely fill their plane if there was a flight to Boston from Logan."

My point is that if there is only one flight, it will either arrive after your flight, or you will have a long wait in BOS for the connection.

I just don't think this idea makes sense.

- CF

Bill Randell said...

Charley:

Cape Air is not just flying one flight per day from Martha's Vineyard, P-Town, Hyannis or Nantucket to Logan.

I believe Cape Air flies multiple times per day from these cities to Logan.

Thanks

Bill

Bill Randell said...

Charley:

Cape Air, for example, flies two flights per day in the morning, one at lunch and two in the afternoon from Hyannis to Boston every day.

Bill

Anonymous said...

Bill Randell said...
"Cape Air, for example, flies two flights per day in the morning, one at lunch and two in the afternoon from Hyannis to Boston every day."


Five flights a day would certainly reduce the lay-over time.

Google maps shows a 1:12 drive from ORH to BOS, and a 1:29 drive from HYA to BOS. Not that much of a difference. Maybe it's feasable, maybe not.

It would be nice of Worcester said to Cape Air (or anyonme else for that matter) "Why don't you start flying out of ORH? We won't charge you anything until it starts costing us more."

I know the fuel tax came up during some of the Allegiant discussions. Did you ever hear how much Worcester charged Allegiant for fuel tax?


- CF

Bill Randell said...

Charley:

That is what we have been saying. Why not even throw some of the $200,000 of Small Grant monies at them.. Lets not forget the $1,000,000 that we get if we can hit 10,000 passengers.

Bill

ThrM said...

As Bill said above, Charley, there have been attempts to initiate discussions with Cape Air. Surely you don't think everyone on this blog simply gripes without any further effort toward correcting the sad state of affairs? No, no, no, my poor misguided anonymous blogger. Phone calls have been placed! Presentations have been prepared! No comprehensive reply was received by this group. Maybe there were conversations with airport officials directly, but I'm not privy to them.