Compliments of the Adirondack Daily:
Myrtle Beach Direct Air, an air service based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has announced new non-stop jet service between Plattsburgh International Airport and Myrtle Beach every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday beginning March 15, 2008. Passengers may also continue on to St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida two days a week with a brief stop in Myrtle Beach.
WRRB/Telegram District City Council Forum 10/18
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This forum is for all district council candidates; all candidates are here
today. Format: 14 total questions, 4 questions across districts (for all
candida...
6 months ago
12 comments:
When Myrtle Beach applied for their Federal small community air service grant (they did not get it) they mentioned that they would like to expand their service to Plattsburgh NY, Rockford IL, and Dallas Ft Worth. Looks like this is the first leg of that.
Could you folks in Worcester support this ? Youngstown would seem to be another possible future candidate here as well.
I would like to see Myrtle Beach Direct Air start at ORH. I would be up for a nice flight to Myrtle Beach for a couple of rounds of golf or maybe even a trip to St Petes.
Tim:
Me too. My point in posting this is that we do not need a consultant at 100K per year. All we need to do is watch secondary airports, like Rockford and Plattsburg, and see what airlines they are attracting and then call the airline ourself.
Cape Air with a code sharing areement with JetBlue and Myrtle Beach Direct should be the top two airlines that we are recruiting.
Tim:
Me too. My point in posting this is that we do not need a consultant at 100K per year. All we need to do is watch secondary airports, like Rockford and Plattsburg, and see what airlines they are attracting and then call the airline ourself.
Cape Air with a code sharing areement with JetBlue and Myrtle Beach Direct should be the top two airlines that we are recruiting.
Niagra Falls Intl appears to be another, similar airport that is having some success (like Rockford and Plattsburgh)
ORH has some $200,000 sitting in their Small Community Air Service grant, which the DOT gave ORH another year to spend. Lets hope we are utilziing these funds to recruit Myrtle Beach and Cape Air
It's hard to be humble when you're a freakin' genius...remember my rants about ORH luring Virgin America ...what about the City of Worcester partnering with Greasecar, a Massachusetts company to catch the biodiesel wave? In any event , check out this article...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/14/business/air.php
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/14/business/air.php
(Corrected URL)
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
I give up on the link, here is the actual story...
Virgin Atlantic sets February flight to test biofuel
By Nicola Clark
Monday, January 14, 2008
PARIS: Virgin Atlantic said Monday that it would conduct a demonstration flight next month of one of its Boeing 747 jets using biofuel - the first airborne test of a renewable fuel by a commercial jet.
The airline, founded by the British billionaire Richard Branson, said a 747-400 plane would make the journey lasting one hour and 20 minutes from London Heathrow Airport to Amsterdam in late February using 20 percent biofuel and 80 percent conventional jet fuel. The test, without passengers, is part of a joint research project announced by Virgin, Boeing and the aircraft engine maker, GE Aviation.
The airline declined to identify the source of the biofuel, though Paul Charles, a Virgin spokesman, said the carrier had rejected fuels derived from crops like palm oil because of the huge land area that would need to be devoted to cultivation for fuel production.
"It will be a very sustainable fuel source," Charles said, adding that its production would not compete with food or fresh water resources.
Engineers at Boeing and its European rival, Airbus, estimate that supplying all the airliners in the world with pure soybean-based biofuel would require planting an area the size of Europe. Biofuel researchers have also identified certain varieties of algae as a possible feedstock, noting that they have a much higher energy content than oilseeds and would therefore be far less demanding on the environment.
Boeing estimates that supplying the aviation industry with algae-based fuel would require just 35 square kilometers of ponds and that the algae could even be cultivated in salt water.
GE Aviation said the test plane would be configured with one of its CF6 engines, which would not require any modifications to burn biofuel. The new fuel would also have no effect on the engine's performance or range, the company said. Boeing says its 747-400s are capable of flying 7,260 nautical miles, or 13,450 kilometers.
"This is meant to be a drop-in solution," said Deborah Case, a GE Aviation spokeswoman. "That is one of the requirements of the project."
Branson's critics have sometimes accused him of hypocrisy because of the role that Virgin Atlantic and other airlines play in contributing to carbon dioxide emissions.
But since 2006, Virgin Group says, it has earmarked all of the profits from its airline and rail businesses to financing research and development of alternative fuels.
Branson has also joined forces with Al Gore, the Nobel laureate and former U.S. vice president, to finance a $25 million prize for finding an effective way of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
...and if that wasn't enough, here is yet ANOTHER of my ideas getting press today...
Jan 15, 2008
Picknelly eyes casino
$1.5B Palmer plan with Mohegan Sun
By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
bkush@telegram.com
WORCESTER— Peter A. Picknelly, president of the largest privately-owned bus company in the country and whose family built the Hilton Garden Inn downtown, has joined a group interested in building a $1.5 billion casino on 150-acres just off the Massachusetts Turnpike in Palmer.
That development team also is exploring the possibility of building a casino on a 35-acre site in New Bedford.
Mr. Picknelly, who heads Peter Pan Bus Lines, an intercity carrier that operates out of Union Station, among other transportation depots, said he is investing in casino projects being pulled together by The Northeast Group, which owns the land near Exit 8 of the turnpike and which has “site control” over waterfront property in New Bedford.
Northeast also has an exclusive agreement with representatives of the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut to develop a casino and entertainment complex on the Palmer property.
“We’re moving along in the process,” Mr. Picknelly said.
According to state officials, there are now between 15 and 20 “serious” groups interested in building a casino in Massachusetts. They cautioned, however, that such a venture would require considerable financial resources, noting that a casino license alone would cost $800 million.
Interest on Beacon Hill in casinos spiked considerably last fall when Gov. Deval L. Patrick proposed that three casinos be built in greater Boston, Central and Western Massachusetts, and the New Bedford-Fall River area to generate needed tax revenue and to create 20,000 jobs.
Mr. Picknelly believes casinos are inevitable in Massachusetts, noting that their construction would be a boon to local economies.
He said he decided to invest in the proposals because of the interest by Mohegan Sun management and because of Leon H. Dragone, Northeast’s president.
Mr. Picknelly said Mr. Dragone has been advocating for casinos in Massachusetts for at least 20 years and added that the Dragone family expressed interest many years ago in building a casino atop Mount Greylock, the state’s highest peak.
“He has extensive knowledge,” Mr. Picknelly said.
State Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, who represents the Palmer area in the state Legislature, said the land that Northeast owns in Palmer, near Route 32, is strategically located.
“That land is just ripe for development,” said Mr. Brewer, who has met with Mr. Dragone in the past.
But he agreed with an assessment by state officials that it would take considerable financial resources to build a casino, assuming that state lawmakers would approve Mr. Patrick’s plan.
“I think it’s going to take some Wall Street types to complete a project,” Mr. Brewer said. “There aren’t many people breathing the thin air in that stratosphere of wealth.”
Mr. Brewer, noting that a casino recently built in Vietnam takes in about $1 million an hour, said that casinos can be very profitable to investors.
So much so, that investment groups are flooding Beacon Hill with lobbyists.
He said, for example, that Suffolk Downs has nine lobbyists trying to convince lawmakers that a casino at the East Boston racetrack would greatly benefit taxpayers.
Interestingly, Mr. Brewer said Suffolk Downs is excluded as a possible site under Mr. Patrick’s plan.
The Picknelly family for years has pushed for building a casino in Western Massachusetts.
Harry Tembenis
Worcester , MA
PS
Should I send the city a bill for consulting services?
don't forget--Worcester's had success in the past luring airlines utilizing undercapacity airports. Pan Am and Allegiant both were of this model. Could the common denominator of the problem be that local management at ORH is not conducive to retaining anyone?
Define local management?
Are you saying businesses up at the airport are sabotaging airlines deliberately.
Why?
I.E. The airport doesn't belong to the taxpayers but in actuality is a "Private" airfield!!!!!
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