Letter to the Editor

Some may call Mr Cote's letter as being negative or critical. Although I see the potential in ORG, can you blame anyone for asking questions like these when are track history of losses is unquestionable (currently losing $2,000,000 per year), current operating agreement decreases to 68% re-imbursement from MassPort on July 1st and completely ends in 403 days.

Mr James Cote--- great letter.




Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Study Worcester’s future without an airport

The Worcester Regional Airport’s financial impact to the city is no different from that of the former City Hospital off Chandler Street. Once we got over the sentimental feelings, it was easy to see the need to close the financial drain that was once an excellent hospital. The city infrastructure needs work and that work begins with the school system. Increased property values and our quality of life are impacted directly by the effectiveness of our schools. Please, has anyone ever spoken to anyone who told you they moved here because of the airport? There is no doubt that the airport is a valuable piece of property, but that value is not as an airport.

Any and all future studies should be conducted on what to do with the property after the airport closes. Hopefully, now that we are changing the name, the airport will go the way of radio station WAAF. Remember, they were WAAF Worcester, then WAAF Worcester-Boston — and now they are WAAF Boston and out of the city.


James Cote
Westboro, MA

SkyWest

This is the company that bought out ASA and they are doing pretty well financially. Check out their route map:

http://www.skywest.com/routemaps/rm_img/united_300.jpg

Flying as a Delta Connection to the hub in Chicago, this would be a great flight especially with their fleet of CRJ's and Embraers. ComAir, another Delta connection, would be nice flying to the other Delta hub, Cinncinnati, but I just do not see ComAir coming here when they fly out of Boston..

SkyWest is expanding and is bigger, maybe they could be convinced to fly out of ORH?

Anonymous Bloggers

Tom Moore and I were talking about the number of anonymou bloggers. Although we all knew "Charley Farley" was not Charley Farley, it helped the debate knowing when a comment came from Charley. Can all anonymous bloggers please consider adopting a pen name??? It is very easy go to following url and set up your "handle":

http://www.blogger.com/start

Allegiant Flight

My wife flew Allegiant last Monday to Sanford-Orlando and returned last Thursday.. Here are her thoughts:


My travel experience with Allegiant Air out of Worcester was very positive. The Airport makes a very nice first impression for passengers. It is refreshing to see airport employees that smile, wish you a good day, and even greet you by name. Besides the warm welcome and friendly service. the Airport itself looks great. It is clean & neat, easy to find your way, and of course, no lines or traffic jams. I would recommend the Worcester - Orlando flight to others. The other passengers I spoke with were also very happy and relieved the flight took off, despite the fog & rain.

The only other items to note/compare are that Sanford Airport was much larger than Worcester, but old and in need of remodeling. It was also evident that the actual airplane was an older model, but well maintained with a friendly and helpful staff.

My last concern was that both flights were only half full. I hope that that Allegiant can maintain success to warrant perhaps more destinations, flights and attract other airlines to Worcester. As you can see the "clock is ticking" and we need to aggressively market all the positives about the airport.

Once again, if your going to Florida, you will not be disappointed with this flight! From a pricing perspective, this was the lowest airfare I found - inlcuding Southwest. So, go ahead and check it out!

Pease Now Portsmouth

This whole name thing is out of control... Personally I think the name change can not hurt ORH. At the same time it can not disguise that we have one carrier flying four times per week and our current operating deficit is $2,000,000 per year.


Story from Portsmouth Union Leader.

The Pease Development Authority voted 5-1 yesterday to rename its airport.
Pease International Airport would become Portsmouth International Airport at the Pease International Tradeport.

The change may, however, require approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, which has pumped more than $60 million into improvements since 1992.

Business Analogy

Lets take an example where I own a business that is extremely business, actually too busy. Customers sometimes have to wait in long lines, parking/driving around my business is difficult and the neighbors complain about the congestion/noise to city officials constantly and fight any expansion plans that I have.

At the same time, my brother-in-law has bought a similar business, not far from mine, that is struggling badly. To keep peace in the family I have help him pay his monthly bills to stay open.

One night I drive by my brother-in-law's store and it is empty, then I get to my store where there is traffic congestions, no parking and the lines are long inside. Let me ask you a question, would I walk up to people in the line and suggest that they may want to try my brother-in-law's store. Answer-I would not. Now that may seem mean, but that is business and people who disagree me, surely do not own their own business. Customers are the lifeline of any business and you never send them to the competition.

Let me change the analogy. What if I had bought my brother-in-law's store or had a 99 year lease to run it? I would surely inform customers of our second location. In case anyone is confused MassPort manages the thriving business and ORH is the brother-in-law.

SELL ORH!!!!!

Allegiant Stock Story

Allegiant Air, the airline that begins flying from Roanoke to Orlando, Fla., on May 24, said Tuesday it plans to raise money through a public stock offering. Aviation consultant Tim Sieber at The Boyd Group said the move appeared to be good news for Las Vegas-based Allegiant, which announced on March 28 that it would start flying from Roanoke to Orlando on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

"One thing you can never have enough of is money," said Sieber, based in Evergreen, Colo., after Allegiant announced its initial public stock sale. "From that perspective I think it's a good move" by Allegiant. "I went through their papers last night and it looks like they're sitting on about $53 million in cash. That's not a bad amount of money for the size of airline they are, but it's not a great amount. "This gives them some cushion that would allow them to weather some rough times, if that happens, and provides some capital to grow the business and make sure it's sustainable," Siebert said.

A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said the initial offering could be worth as much as $100 million. The number of shares, their price and when they will become available were not disclosed. Proceeds will be used to buy aircraft and for general corporate purposes, the filing said.

The shares are expected to be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALGT. The offering will be made through an underwriting syndicate led by Merrill Lynch & Co. Allegiant posted net income of $7.3 million for 2005, down from $10.3 million a year before. Siebert said growth by the company might be based on its successful model in Las Vegas. "The jury is still out on how successful Orlando is going to be," he said. The demographics for people flying to Vegas and its 24-hour lifestyle are different from Orlando's family theme parks, Siebert said.

Tacoma Narrows Airport Update

We do not have a County Gov't to take over our airport, other then that the similarities are startling.... Just insert MassPort where it says Pierce County.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/5744383p-5140152c.html

If the City of Tacoma and its airport were a married couple, they’d be heading for divorce court.
Tacoma’s looking for a way to walk away from this unhappy, 43-year relationship. Fortunately, at least one suitor may be waiting in the wings for the unwanted Tacoma Narrows Airport.
Sometimes such breakups are for the best, and the former partners do better apart than they did together. That very well may be the case for the Narrows airport, which has not thrived under what some observers have described as the city’s neglectful management.

Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson has recommended that the City Council consider closing the airport or transferring it to some other entity. The Port of Tacoma and Gig Harbor once looked at taking it over, but decided against it. But now Pierce County Councilman Terry Lee, who represents the Gig Harbor Peninsula, where the airport is located, has suggested that the county look into taking over its operation.

Lee’s rationale – to keep the airport from being taken over by another entity that might expand operations in order to make money – has struck some as curious. Tacoma’s complaint about the airport, after all, was that it was a money pit. But Lee’s on the right track. The airport is in the unincorporated county, which makes it a better possible steward than Tacoma. Many of the airport’s problems can be traced to the fact that it’s outside the city, and planning must be coordinated with the county and Gig Harbor.

If the airport were better managed, some say, it’s possible that it could break even or even make money without increasing the number of flights in and out – and the number of complaints from neighbors. Given the key roles the airport plays in civilian aviation, medical airlifts and possible emergency response, every avenue should be explored to try to keep it operating. Lee plans to talk about this proposal later this month with County Executive John Ladenburg and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Keeping the airport open – while keeping a lid on the amount of air traffic – are both worthwhile goals. If Tacoma is no longer interested in making the relationship work, it should step aside and give someone else a chance.

Allegiant IPO

Allegiant Travel Company Files Registration Statement for Initial Public Offering of Common

StockTuesday May 16, 12:42 pm ET

LAS VEGAS, May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Allegiant Travel Company today announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The shares of common stock to be sold in the offering are expected to be offered by Allegiant and by certain of its stockholders. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.

Las Vegas, Nev. based Allegiant Travel Company is the parent company of Allegiant Air, LLC, which is a low-cost passenger airline linking travelers in small cities to world-class leisure destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla.

April Board Minutes On-Line

You can check out the April board minutes at http://www.flyorh.com under the minutes tab. There you will find the letter from Mr Nemeth regarding the name change.

The thing I found interesting was the item on IMG under new business item 6. It discusses a contract with IMG not to exceed 55,640 to continue "air service marketing initiatives". To date from a prior qtrly DOT I know that IMG has already billed $39,375 for these services. Is this an increase from 39,375 tp 55,640 or is the 55,640 in addition to the 39,375 already billed? I will e-mail and mail the airport liaison to get a clarification.

Least anyone forgets IMG already has received $100,000 for their reports that are on the City Website.

Telegram Editorial

Another editorial on how well the airport is doing today in the paper. Again, I think Allegiant has been a great start for ORH and Allegiant should be thanked for giving ORH a chance. At the same time how can an editorial about the airport not address the fact the airport is on track to lose $2,000,000 again this year, while costing the city between 800K-900K after the MassPort subsidy this fiscal year. Not even a mention our percentage increases from 15% to 32% on July 1st (less then two months) or that in 411 days, ORH has not subsidy whatsoever from MassPort.

Think this is the 3rd or 4th time that I have read that the TSA leasing a 1,000 square feet of space at ORH is a ringing endorsement on the future of ORH. How??? Bet the lease has a clause that allows them to leave without penalty if their resources are needed at ORH. Lastly a disclaimer stating that an employee of the Telegram is a past chairman of the aiport commission and sits on the board would be nice.

Here's the editorial:


A robust demand
Allegiant’s success should attract other carriers


As Massport and city officials seek to add new carriers, flights and destinations at Worcester Regional Airport, the most powerful tool in their sales kit may be the success of the leisure-oriented Florida service provided by Allegiant Air. Since the December launch, Allegiant has maintained an average load factor of a little more than 80 percent, with many flights booked full or near capacity. On two Saturdays in the peak vacation period in April, Allegiant had to put on extra planes to meet the demand. Allegiant’s success underscores the importance of matching services to consumer demands. Although other factors are involved, the key criteria for air travelers in Worcester Regional Airport’s “primary service area” — encompassing a population of some 625,000 — are desirable destination and competitive price.

The carriers being courted for Worcester’s airport are lean, strictly low-fare airlines that are well-adapted to today’s highly competitive air-travel market. They potentially could provide service to leisure destinations such as Las Vegas and to cities in the Midwest and Southeast likely to attract business travelers. Allegiant’s high reliability factor should allay concerns about weather patterns at the airport. Thanks in large part to sophisticated landing systems, only one flight last winter, during a storm in December, had to divert to another airport. The airport also received a vote of confidence from federal transportation officials recently when the Transportation Security Administration signed a five-year lease for space for its security personnel in the terminal building. The Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission’s recent affirmation of efforts by Worcester and Massport to revitalize the airport also is welcome. Allegiant is demonstrating there is a strong market in Central Massachusetts and Boston’s western exurbs for the right air-travel product. Now, let’s have more of the same.

DOT Grant

I have been able to find two other airports who have applied this year for the DOT grant that received a grant in 2004 like ORH:

Gary, Indiana:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060513/NEWS01/605130491/1006

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/14576726.htm

I will find out if we applied this year, which may be the last year that this grant to help small communities attract air sevice may be around.

IMG Narrative

The more and more I look at the IMG reports, the thing that truly amazes me is their recommendation that we should extend the agreement with MassPort. If you want check out page 2-4 entitled "Governance" at http://www.ci.worcester.ma.us/reports/IMGNarrative.pdf.
Why do I say this?

Currently we are about to end year 2 (June 30th) of the 2nd 3 year operating agreement. In other words June 30th will make the end of the 5th year. Here are the operating results for the first 4 years (all losses):

Fiscal Year Ending

2005 -1,920,586
2004 -2,288,131
2003 -2,378,854
2002 -1,938,700

Fiscal Year ending 2006 looks the same as 2005, approximately $2,000,000. Of course the effect on the City of Worcester has not reflected these monies due to the varying percentages subsidized by MassPort. Bottom line is that at the end of the 5th year of 6 years with MassPort, the airport has consistently lost $2,000,000 per year.

Reminds me of a quote “We have a sound, unremitting, 10-year history of losses at the airport, and they are getting worse,” said City Manager Eric Anderson in regards to their airport (Tacoma Narrows). IMG further goes on to state the an extenion with MassPort will result in 1 to 1.3 million cost to the City of Worcester each year. Based on the past results and future forecasts, why would IMG recommend an extension of the agreement?

Despite the finances, maybe this would be acceptable if we had the results, but we have only one airline flying four times per week to Sanford-Orlando? Think that would be a pretty hard arguement to make.

Is it MassPort's fault? I say no and make the same analogy, as I have before, between renting an apartment and owning a house. If you rent an apartment, you are not going to spend monies on major improvements since you will never reap the rewards of the increased value. MassPort has been a huge help financially, but has not made the commitment to turn around ORH. Can you blame them??? What's in it for MassPort if they turned around ORH in 3 years? Answer---Nothing.

It appears to me that MassPort has the ability through their mission statement, the power through the legislature and the financial ability to buy ORH not to mention save Worcester alot of money. Our own consultantant, IMG, estimates 1 to 1.3 million per year from the General Fund, if we extend the agreement at the end of this agreement June 30th, 2007.

SELL ORH.

MassPort Mission

http://www.massport.com/about/about_whowe.html

"Massport's Mission Massport’s mission is to enhance and enable economic growth and vitality for the benefit of our stakeholders through public service leadership in the operation of world-class transportation facilities. By defining our mission in this manner, we declare our reason for being and acknowledge the unique impact we have on New England’s standard of living. "

http://www.mass.gov/sao/massport200105083.pdf

Section 4 of the MassPort Enabling Act specifically authorizes MassPort to purchase any land, property rights, rigths of way, franchises, easements and other interests in lands, as it nay deem expedient, necessary or convenient for the construction or operation of any project at reasonable price and terms. "project" refers to the Tobin Bridge, the airport properties (Hanscon/Boston), the port properties, or any additional facility, including a trade and transportation center, financed or acquired under the Act.



Seems to me that the outright sale of ORH would help meet the MassPort mission and the Enabling Act sure gives them the power to do so. Sell ORH.

Tacoma Narrows Airport Update

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5733101p-5131286c.html

Pierce County Councilman Terry Lee wants the county to explore taking over the Tacoma Narrows Airport from the City of Tacoma. Lee, whose council district includes the Gig Harbor Peninsula, thinks that might be the best way to strike a balance between preserving the airport and making sure that air traffic doesn’t increase too much, something the nearby community has long feared.

acoma City Manager Eric Anderson prompted the discussion by announcing last week that he thinks the city should consider selling or closing the airport.

Today's Editorial

This was the third, or maybe fourth time, that the Telegram has written an editorial saying that the name change to include Boston in the airport name was a good idea. Please, please change the name already, so we do not ever have to discuss this again and let us move onto issues like getting more airlines. Let me, however address a couple things into today's editorial:

"Worcester airport would pop up on computer searches by people traveling to the region."

This is true. What will people find-- 4 flights per week to Sanford. We need to have airlines for people to fly when Worcester MetroWest Boston Airport "pops" on their screen to make ORH a viable option to be taken seriously.

"The name change also would signal to airlines considering entering the Southern New England market that Worcester’s proximity to Boston makes it a potential alternative for air travelers"

Not only will passengers consider Worcester now, but so will airlines with the name change??? Evidently the strategic flight planners for the airlines are not exactly sure where Worcester is in relation to Boston, but now will with the name change?


Lastly I will be posting last month's board minutes, which includes a letter from Bob Nemeth, a columnist for the Telegram/past aiport commission chairman/current airport commission board member, on behalf of the airport commission explaining their preference for the name change. Is it just me or should the Telegram post a footnote stating that one of their columists is on the Airport Commission, when writing an editorial supporting decisions by the airport commission. If you ever read a story regarding an stock, the writer always puts a disclaimer on the bottom that they in fact own this stock.

Green Hill GC Losing $100,000 Per year

The other night at the City Council, reports were demanded showing the finances for Green Hill. Seems like everyone is upset that the golf course is losing $100,000. Fine they should be.

In comparison ORH has cost the City of Worcester 634,729 for the first nine months (July-March) in fiscal 2006 and our percentage of the operating deficit increases to 32% July 1st.

Worcester Metrowest Boston Airport

The above proposed name change for Worcester Regional Airport.. Is it a good idea or a bad idea? I think it is a good idea, but we have spent way too much time on this. How long has it been--over a year? Literally read about Manchester thinking about the name change one month and the next month it was done. Lets just change the dam name and move on, get some more airlines and hopefully slow down the bleeding of cash!!!!!! That way people who decide to check out Worcester Metrowest Boston will see more then one airline flying four times per week to Sanford-Orlando.

For the record I think Worcester-Boston was better. Isn't it kind of ironic that Manchester has added Boston, Worecester wants to add Boston and Boston itself (Logan) does not have Boston in its name..

Lastly I am keeping the MassPort clock on the blog, but have turned off the alarm. It was driving me crazy.

Worcester Terminal Clock

Front page of today's paper--"The Landing Field That Time Forgot". Evidently the two digital clocks above the baggage carousel were not moved forward an hour ahead for daylight savings. Right now the time is one hour behind the actual time. What is the solution?

The short-term plan is to put up two battery-operated clocks next to the two digital clocks.. So will passengers now see two different times? I say lets put up two more clocks with the West Coast time, so we have three seperate times and write above each clock West Coast, Midwest and East Coast. Why don't we simply change the digital clocks?

A worker in the city's Technical Department has to crack the system's code to make the changes to these 12 year old digital clocks. One would think that there would be a manual for a 12 year old system with a section to change the time? Evidently not. Does this mean then that the past 12 years that these clocks have been slow an hour every year from the first Sunday of April till the last Sunday of October (day light savings)?

The long-term plan is to spend $15,000 on a new system to show the correct time. Julie Jacobcson, Assistant City Manager had to try and explain why this is was the case, which is not fair to her (worrying about the clocks at ORH). Give her credit she said "there is no excuse" for this situation. Why did the Assistant City Manager have to answer for this situation?

Airport Manager Eric Waldron did not return three calls yesterday to the Telegram Reporter. Does he ever return calls or e-mails?? As soon as I get the airport minutes for the April minutes that were approved Monday at the May meeting from our airport liaison, I will post. Maybe there is something about the clock situation in the minutes?

Anonymous Postings

There are a couple different ways you can look at this. I more then understand where Tom is coming from when he says that a person should post his name, but at the same time maybe someone may be embarassed (for whatever reason) to put their name on the blog. In the end, how do I know Charley Farley is not Charley Farley or if Dave H is Dave H--should I ask for ID's? Anonymous posting stays, unless it gets either vulgar or starts attacking people.

My only comment to the anonymous poster, who called the blog negative this week, quoting Tom, "what's negative about asking for accountability from our government?" In the end there are alot of questions about "salaries and fringe", maybe we should have a city councilor file an order to clarify the situation? What do you all think (including all your anonymous posters). Put your comments here.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster

I knew the name Tacoma Narrows ringed a bell (not the MassPort Clock either)...

Tacoma Narrows Airport

A little more information that I found in another article:

Technically, the FAA doesn’t allow the city to sell the airport. But it could transfer the airport to another entity. Gig Harbor and the Port of Tacoma have both looked at taking over the airport, but both passed on it after concluding that it loses too much money.

Narrows Airport budget problems
Two-year operating deficit:
$550,000
Debt payback shortfall:
$1.5 million
Safety zone improvements:
$1.1 million
Total: $3.2 million

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/government/story/5710874p-5114956c.html

Selling An Airport

Story sound familiar??
http://www.tacomadailyindex.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=88&cat=23&id=641776&more=

A decade of financial losses at Tacoma Narrows Airport has forced City Hall to consider offloading the 43-year-old, 650-acre airport located near Gig Harbor in unincorporated Pierce County. “We have a sound, unremitting, 10-year history of losses at the airport, and they are getting worse,” said City Manager Eric Anderson Tuesday, during a city council study session.

According to data provided by city staffers, the city defaulted on two inter-fund and general fund loans totalling $3.2 million at the end of last year. Additionally, the costs associated with an agreement between the city and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to create runway safety zone improvements has climbed from an initial estimate of $6 million to nearly $18 million. The city would need to pay $1.1 million toward those improvements -- money that isn’t budgeted, according to Anderson.

The news Tuesday upset the mayor and several councilmembers. “We were assured repeatedly that this was a slam-dunk deal that would generate tremendous revenues,” said Baarsma, who recalled two council decisions in 2000 and 2002 to authorize the loans. “I find this surprising and I’m disappointed. If those assurances hadn’t been made, we wouldn’t have approved the loans.” Councilmember Julie Anderson was concerned that councilmembers weren’t notified that both loans defaulted Dec. 31. “I don’t think it comes as any surprise it’s a losing proposition,” said Councilmember Jake Fey.

City Manager Anderson proposed transferring the airport to another owner, or shutting down the airport and selling the land. News that the city could sell the airport pleased Councilmember Bill Evans. “We were always told that we couldn’t close it,” said Evans, referring to a long-time belief that the FAA would not permit a sale. “I’m happy to hear that.” According to Anderson, the FAA is “reluctant to close airports, but cannot requite an entity to operate an airport at a loss.” However, if the city closed the airport and sold the land, if would have have to return 95 percent of the market value to the FAA because the airport was built with federal funds. Still, Anderson was confident that even five-percent profit on the sale would cover the loans because the airport was located on “prime development land.” “Almost as important,” said Anderson, “it would stop the bleeding.”

Airort Commission Meeting Tonight

At the airport 6:30PM. The April minutes will be approved tonight so I should have them on-line by week's end.

VLJ Blog

Great blog on Very Light Jets (VLJ's) like Linear will have with the Eclipse.

Allegiant May add 2nd Florida Destination??

Read a story about how Lehigh Valley has 6 airlines interested in filling the gap that Hooters has left. Although the name itself created alot of skepticism, Hooters helped alot of airports like LeHigh prove that they had a market that would support an airline. Also take note that Lehigh actually reveals the names of the airlines that are having preliminary talks with the airport. Don't forget to check out the quality of their website either.

Lastly the other interesting thing about the story is that it also indicated Allegiant would be picking up a second Florida destination--St Pete's (guessed in the April 7th blog).


http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/pa/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1146024796230060.xml&coll=2

NE Regional Air Study Plan

Over the past two years there have been three studies that we have been watching for ORH. One was the $100,000 IMG study which presented a stategic plan for ORH. This has been completed and can be found on the City's website under the reports tab.

A second $400,000 Master Plan (paid by the Mass Aeronautics Commission and the FAA) has been silent since a meeting in December, 2004 at the airport. One of the reasons cited for the delay was that we were waiting for results from the third study.

The third study is the New England Regional Air Study Plan. Today I noticed under the "project status" tab that on 2/27/06 :Airport specific forcasts individual airport data packets provided to each airport manager. Does that mean we can resume the Master Plan now that we have the information from the New England Regional Air Study Plan?

It would be nice to have our Master Plan completed ASAP, when we have some very critical decisions to make over the next 419 days.

Salaries & Fringe

During the first 9 months of fiscal 2006, a total of 902,264 between "salaries and fringe" has been spent. In other words approximately $100,000 per month on salaries and fringe. Last I remember we had 10 employees, maybe 11, at the airport (I could be wrong) so that means we spend $10,000 per month per employee between "salaries and fringe"? Are they hiring??

All kiddin aside how can you run a business when the "salaries and fringe" alone are 902,264, never mind other expenses (like debt service), which is approximately 50% more then corresponding revenues during the same period (639,937). In the private sector, you would be out of business fast!!!!

Maybe we did not pay close enough attention to this when MassPort was payingt the tab, but we are going to pick up 32% of the operating deficit (not including debt service) in two months followed by the whole bill in 14 months. We need to get a better grasp of "salaries and fringe" at ORH now.

First Nine Months Fiscal 2006

I have numbers for the first 9 months (July, 2005 thru March 31, 2006) e.

Revenues
Airfield 115,151
Airfield Suport 225,680
Terminal Building 162,815
Misc 136,291
Total 639,937

Expenses
Salaries 629,303
Ordinary Maintenance 720,361
Capital 3,669
Fringe 272,961
Total 1,626,294

Operating Loss
Less Debt Service 986,357

MassPort (85%) 838,404
Worcester (15%) 147,953

Debt Service 486,776
(100% Worcester)
Total Cost To Worcester 634,729 (15% of the loss plus debt service)


During the first nine months of fiscal 2006, the cost to the City of Worcester to run ORH was $634,729. Keep in mind our percentage increase to 32% in two months (July 1st, 2006) from 15%. Couple of other very interesting numbers comparing the the first nine months of fiscal 2006 to fiscal 2005:

• Revenues have dropped from 674,654 to 639,937.
• Salaries have increased from 548,760 to 629,303.
• Operating loss including debt service has increased from 1,295,473 to 1,473,133.

The actual losses for the first 9 months of this fiscal year (2006) compared to the first 9 months of last fiscal year (2005) have increased 177,660. The thing I find the most disturbing is that the cost of ORH for the first 6 months of 2006 was $403,257 and now it increased to 674,654 after 9 months. This past qtr, with the arrival of Allegiant, was actually worse to the bottom line then the prior two quarters without Allegiant??

I have the actual spreadsheet which I will post on http://www.flyorhcom under the minutes page.

Linear Unveils Eclipse

Linear Air unveils Eclipse, check out link:
https://www.linearair.com/RTS/eclipseevent.aspx


Here is a small part:

Experience - inside and out - the aircraft that is transforming private air travel!

Dates:
Saturday May 13th 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 pmSunday May 14th 8:30 am - 10:00 amAfter sitting in it, watch the Eclipse fly at 10:00 am Sunday!
RSVP:
mailto:info@linearair.com
Where:
Jet Aviation, Hanscom Airport, Bedford MAclick here for directions

E-Mail From A Passenger

Hi Bill, I have to tell you that was by far the best flying experience we have ever had! Everyone we dealt with at Allegiant were just super! It was quick in at Worcester, and quick out in Sanford! The same coming home from Sanford it was easy in and again from Worcester it was a piece of cake getting out of the airport! I have talked my son into flying out of Worcester in a couple of weeks when he is goes to see his brother! I really hope all works out for Worcester Airport?Thank You again for the information, it was most helpful!


Sincerely,

John D Sullivan

Other Blogs

Youngtown blog noted new home page for Allegiant--I like it.

Also Charley Farley had a new post a couple weeks back that I just noticed http://www.closeorh.blogspot.com

Big Airtran ad in the newspaper today.

Innovation Analysis Group

Found a new blog that I will add to the links--check it out:

http://iagblog.blogspot.com/

In particular April 28th blog with comments from fan favorite Boyd Group:

Here's another strategic trend forecast from The Boyd Group, one that the aviation cognoscenti will sneer at today, and next year will be preaching like an evangelist who just discovered a gospel tent: The airlines best postured to weather this oil price storm are legacy carriers. The ones that will be hurt worst and first will be low-cost carriers. Some key points:-

• Legacies have reduced their operating costs, so they aren't wildly at variance with LCCs any longer. -
• Higher fuel costs will lead to higher fares. Higher fares will hit discretionary, price-driven passenger segments first. Passengers who in the past were created by low fares to Orlando will think twice with higher ticket prices and $3-per-gallon gas for the SUV.-
• Legacies will continue to have access to the strong growth traffic at places such as Shreveport, Taipei, Montgomery, Tupelo, and Kaoshiung. (Tupelo? Yup. Traffic's up almost double in two years. Maybe it's the consultant they hired.) LCCs don't have the fleets or the route systems to access these flows. -
• Most importantly, legacies are not as vulnerable to traffic down-turns as are LCCs. That's because several legacies have significant fleets they can quickly park, and have limited aircraft on order, unlike most LCCs. In fact, the new-airliner orderbook may well be the Achilles Heel of the LCC segment in the next 18 months.

Boston Accepts Manchester Name Change

Logan Airport officials have decided not to raise a fuss over the renaming of New Hampshire's Manchester Airport. In fact, Massport CEO Craig Coy calls the move by Manchester officials to insert "Boston" into the name of the city's airport "the highest form of flattery."

Kudos To Gary Rosen

I was watching the City Council Meeting last night and Gary Rosen stated his support for the airport, but realizes that although Allegiant is great that the airport needs alot more fast (more then a name change). He tried to ask the status of any negotiations, but was not told a whole lot other then there are negotiations going on.

Councilor Rosen also brought up the fact that Year 2 of the operating agreement is coming to close and Year 3 (last year) is fast approaching, July 1st, which will in turn increase our financial burden. City Manager O'Brien responded by saying that fiscal 2007 funding from the City would only be in the area of $400,000, thanks a great deal from the added revenues provided by Allegiant (we have not seen any of these results yet). Councilor Rosen reminded the City Manager may not be included the debt service, which is 100% ours, so he believes that the true bill is more in the $1,000,000 range.

I, like Gary Rosen, believe and support the airport but like any business we need to have a grasp of the numbers. Kudos to Gary Rosen for being aware of the true cost of ORH, that we need more airlines (more so then a name change) to decrease the financial drain on the City of Worcester and that are current agreement is coming to an end fast.

Lastly just a reminder, I calculated (based on numbers from the City Auditor) that the cost of ORH for the first 6 months for fiscal 2007 was 403,257 to the City of Worcester, which included 100% of the debt service (324,517) and 15% of the 524,933 operating deficit (78,740). Keep in mind our percentage of the operating deficit (not including debt service) will increase to 35% effective July 1st, 2006 then 100% ours July 1st, 2007.

Green Hill Country Club

The last week or so there has been alot of talk about how Green Hill should have the ability to sell beer and wine to help cut the operating deficit, which is approximately $100,000 per year. Without getting into the beer and wine issue, I only wish the same emphasis was placed on ORH to raise revenues especially when the cost of ORH to the tax-payers of Worcester was over $400,000 for only the first six months of fiscal 2007. Not to mention the fact our percentage of the operating deficit increases from 15% to 32% in two months (July 1st then) ends completey in 14 months (July 1st, 2007).

Current MassPort agreement with the City of Worcester. The percentage is the right hand column represents the portion of the operating deficit covered by MassPort. The remaining balance is the responsibility of the City of Worcester.

July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007
MassPort pays 68% of operating deficit not including debt service
July 1, 2005 -June 30, 2006
MassPort pays 85% of operating deficit not including debt service
July 1, 2004 -June 30, 2005
MassPort pays 100% of operating deficit not including debt service

Rockford Airport Director

Sent him an e-mail last week how I feel his airport is a model for other secondary airports around the country. Here is what he sent back:



Thanks Bill. Ironically I was offered the #2 job at Worchester back in 1986; turned it down after a visit. Great view of the Boston skyline. Good to hear from you.

BobRobert W. O'Brien, Jr.,
AAEExecutive Director of AviationChicago/Rockford International Airport (RFD)
Telephone: 815-969-4444
Fax: 815-969-4001
E-mail: bob@flyrfd.comWebsite: www.flyrfd.com

"RFD - It's the Way Flying Should Be"

Dunkin Donuts

BoDog was going to pay $500,000 for 3 months on 6 planes.. How about Dunkin Donuts?? Why not approach them to take the restaurant slot with naming rights to the terminal??

No BoDog on Allegiant

Last week there was a blog on BoDog advertising on 6 Allegiant jets, they will not be doing this, check out below. At the same time I bet you that they will find another advertiser. Just like we should find someone who may want advertising rights the terminal.




Allegiant Air, the Las Vegas-based low-fare air carrier, has abruptly canceled an ad deal with an online casino company that would have turned six of the airline's jets into flying billboards.
Allegiant specializes in flying tourists from middle-market cities such as Des Moines, Iowa, and Shreveport, La., to Las Vegas.

Ponder Harrison, Allegiant's managing director, said Allegiant pulled the plug on the deal with Bodog.com after airline executives learned more about the Justice Department's views on advertising Internet gambling, which the government considers to be illegal. Allegiant canceled the deal after a Las Vegas Sun reporter questioned an airline executive .

Allegiant wouldn't disclose the value of the canceled deal, but published reports said it was worth $500,000. Harrison said Mylar film with the Bodog brand had already been applied to the fuselages of five MD-80 jets . "The more we did our due diligence, the more we became uncomfortable with displaying the brand," Harrison said.

Bodog had hoped its three-month deal with Allegiant would reach gamblers who go to Las Vegas once or twice a year and might consider playing online. Tray tables resembling blackjack tables were also planned . In a statement, Bodog's founder and Chief Executive Calvin Ayre said he understood Allegiant's decision. "I have no problem with Allegiant changing our agreement when faced with this type of threat," Ayre said. "We 100 percent support them and are saddened that they are not being able to pursue their constitutionally protected rights of free speech in this case."

4th New York Airport?

Tom--great story.. The link is too long so for the full story go to Google and search "New York City 4th Airport". Kind of fits into the whole idea of MassPort buying ORH incorporating them with Hancom and Boston. Here are parts of the story.

Executives of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three airports — La Guardia, Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International — say they fear that the increasingly crowded airspace could crimp the region's economy, driving some business travelers and tourists to other cities. They are mulling a range of incremental improvements that would allow them to squeeze more planes and passengers through the airports they have.
But the Port Authority's chairman, Anthony R. Coscia, said he believed a bolder, more controversial solution would be necessary. The time has come, Mr. Coscia said, to start creating another major airport to serve the metropolitan area.......

Mitchell L. Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University, endorsed the idea of a fourth airport as "a wise strategy for the 21st century" and said he favored Stewart because of its size and location. Stewart "is especially well suited for air cargo," Mr. Moss said, because "it has better highway linkages than any existing airport to the Midwest and New England."

One of the possibilities mentioned in the story to be the 4th airport is Stewart International, an hour from New York City, who want to change the name to New York Hudson Valley International Airport sound familiar.

Blog Visitors

We have alot of activity on the blog. Average about 80 unique visitors per day. Kind of neat to see where people are coming from who enter out blog. I saw one today that I had to share with everyone.. Someone from Truth or COnsequences, New Mexico was checking out the blog.

I had to look it up... It truly does exist.

http://www.truthorconsequencesnm.net/

Blogs Welcome From Others

Tom Moore left me a message about an interesting story yesterday. Then this week alone Harry and Tim McDonald send me a comment about other stories.

If anyone ever wants to write up a blog, I will be more then happy to post noting whoever as the author. That goes to anyone including Aiport Director, Airport Liaison, City Councilor, etc.

Airport Websites

Fitchburg Airport website. Not bad--considering it is a general aviation airport in Massachusetts.

Other Allegiant Destinations

Duluth Airport
Billings, Montana
Killeen, Texas
Santa Maria, Ca
Abilene, Texas
Laredo, Texas
Worcester, Ma

Rhode Island Airport Corporation

I say it again sell ORH to MassPort or maybe we should approach the Rhode Island Airport Corportation and we can ORH Providence-Worcester??? Half kiddin but why not? Providence is approximately the same distance as Boston and the drive is easier.

Who is the Rhode Island Airport Corporation? The Rhode Island Airport Corporation was formed on December 9, 1992 as a semiautonomous subsidiary of the then Rhode Island Port Authority, now the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation to operate and maintain the state's airport system. The powers of the corporation are vested in its seven-member board of directors, six of whom are appointed by the governor, and one member appointed by the mayor of the City of Warwick.

The Rhode Island Airport Corporation is responsible for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the six state-owned airports; and the supervision of all civil airports, landing areas, navigation facilities, air schools and flying clubs. In addition to T. F. Green Airport, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation is responsible for five general aviation airports throughout the state: Block Island, Newport, North Central, Quonset and Westerly.

Their mission statement is as follows:

"To provide safe, efficient and convenient air transportation for our region, while providing economic opportunity balanced with environmental stewardship nsensitive to the community."

Why couldn't their region include the addition of ORH??

Logan Lands Spirit

First new airline in two years comes to Logan --Spirit Airlines:

The airline that wants to be known as the full-frills, low-cost carrier is setting up a beachhead in Boston. Spirit Airlines, a discount airline with business class seats, is launching service from Logan to Detroit and to Myrtle Beach, N.C., starting Aug. 15. “We believe the time is right,” said Spirit spokesman Barry Biffle.

The Miramar, Fla.-based carrier left Logan 10 years ago, but much has changed since then, especially in the last few years. Spirit is trading in its old airplanes for two new fuel-efficient models. The new Airbus jets consume up to 30 percent less fuel, which could help the airline move back into the black. It has been losing money in part because of high fuel costs.

At Logan, the airline is likely to move into Terminal B or C. The exact location is still under discussion. “Spirit has a reputation as a high-value low-cost carrier,” said Thomas J. Kinton, Massport’s aviation director. “Its presence at Logan will result in more choices and competitive fares for our customers.”

Spirit, much smaller than JetBlue Airways or Southwest Airlines, is trying to appeal to the traveler who wants low prices but doesn’t want to give up the old-line carrier benefits, Biffle said. It offers a rich frequent-flier package along with its all-leather seats. Spirit will fly one trip daily to Myrtle Beach that leaves and returns early enough to get in a round of golf, both when going and coming back, Biffle said. It will fly two trips to Detroit.

From Detroit, passengers can catch flights to San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Directory of Airport Websites

I found a directory of airport websites:

http://www.airlineandairportlinks.com/port_by_reg.html

Check out all the various websites for airports in the United States. You be the judge, check out Worcester, MA pretty much on par with Snohomish, WA.

Website Challenge

YNG left the following comment in regards to the WoMag story on the ORH website:

"I thought YNG'S was bad, your's is even worse, maybe 5 pages total on the airport"

Here is my challenge--- can anyone find a website for a commercial airport that is worse then http://www.flyworcester.com. E-mail me or add your candidate to the comments to this blog and I will assemble them. Check out Barnes Airport in Westfield, MA, wow.

I never even heard of it but the "FAA and Mass Aeornautics Commission plan to invest 30 million over the next few years" !!

Thanks

Bill

Linear Air

Thanks Harry for the link:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/27/technology/business2_futureboy_airtaxi0427/

Great story on air taxis. Guess where one of the companies is based--Hanscom.. Linear is also one of the few airlines we, on this blog, have targeted. Keep in mind Linear not only is entering the air taxi business with the Eclipse, but they have scheduled service to the Islands and Teterboro.

We should definately invite Bill Herp, the President of Linear to ORH, especially when he is so close and works out of another MassPort airport.

Sell ORH

ORH can be an asset but it will be one under the current management structure. As I have been saying of late, sell ORH to MassPort (or anyone else). Just read this story about how activity keeps increasing at Hanscom Field. Eventually MassPort will need ORH as a third airport to alleviate the pressure on MassPort and Hanscom. It truly makes sense for MassPort to own and run all three commercial airport in Mass. I remember the term "Economies of Scale" from college and I think it would apply here.

Here is a part of the story (I had no idea Hanscom was this busy):

March roared out of Hanscom Field like a lion with a double digit increase in operations.
On April 18, the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission learned the total number of operations between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. increased 13.7 percent last month, jumping from 13,073 in March 2005 to 14,869. Last year, June was the busiest month at Hanscom with 17,751 operations.
Sara Arnold of Massport reported that every category of aircraft, including single engine and twin piston planes, was in the air more this year than the previous March.

Full link:

http://www2.townonline.com/lincoln/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=480020

WoMAg Story

Good story on WoMag with a very fair assessment as to the quality of the airport website:

http://www.worcestermag.com/archives/2006/04-27-06/city_desk.html


YOU NEED TO SCROLL HALF WAY DOWN THE PAGE!

First Six Months Fiscal 2006 Financials

I have obtained the numbers for the airport between July 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005:

Revenues
Airfield 54,225
Airfield Support 118,710
Terminal Building 113,382
Misc 72,494
Total 358,811

Expenditures
Salaries 382,510
Ordinary Maintenance 319,260
Fringe 181,974
Total 883,744

Operating Loss
Not Counting Debt Service 524,933

Since we are in year 2 of the 3 year operating agreement, MassPort will pay 85% or $446,193 leaving the City of Worcester a balance of 78,740. Keep in mind, however, that the debt service is entirely ours and it was 324,517:

15% of operating deficit for 6 months w/o debt service 78,740
100% of debt service for 6 months 324,517

Total Cost of ORH for 6 months 403,257
To the City of Worcester

During these 6 months Allegiant only starting operating at the very end on December 22nd, lets hope the numbers look better the last 6 months of fiscal 2006.

Rockford Airport DIrector

Bob O'Brien, the Rockford Airport Director, is the one being quoted below. He is constantly in their local paper touting the benefits of a succssful airport in the newspaper to the local economy.

Rockford Airport

The Rockford airport, now Chicago/Rockford International Airport, that we should follow as an example continues to do very well. Located outside of Chicago, offering free parking by the way, they were able to attract leisure passsengers first through airlines like TransMeridian/Hooters, replaced now by Allegiant, a charter airlines (Apple Vacations) and the soon to start http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060423/OPINION05/104230010/1139

Here is a small part:


Additional daily flights are possible, but not immediately, as United doesn’t have any regional jets parked in the desert. For the moment, demand is outrunning supply, unless you book further out into the future, which many are doing. Some flights in December are already 50 percent sold!

Our success has been in securing service from those airlines that are willing to provide destinations and pricing on par with Chicago O’Hare. That coupled with free airport parking and increasing regional awareness is pulling people into Chicago/Rockford International Airport from the Chicago suburbs, southern Wisconsin and even eastern Iowa.

Allegiant Air is flying 85 percent full to Orlando and Las Vegas. When Allegiant started in November, it was flying four times weekly to Las Vegas. Because of strong sales, Allegiant increased the weekly schedule to six flights. Orlando service will increase in June to six weekly flights. Again, wow!

McAllen Airport

I sent an e-mail to McAllen Airport asking them the key to their success. I got an answer back today. Here it is:


Bill,

Thank you for the kind words. Your brother-in -law would be surprised to know that our terminal building is now over 14 years old. If I had any advice it would be to keep doing what you are doing, get people involved in the airport. Support from local/state/federal elected officials, citizens, and board members is critical to airport development. We have just completed our Master Plan Update (you’ll find it under Airport Information on our website) and we have had tremendous support for what needs to be done to get us to the next level. It was not easy but we had a series of public meetings and a great consultant that articulated the need for growth to the public and elected officials.

This brings up the topic of “change”. As with any good thing, change is inevitable and we are no different. We are looking at doing a terminal capacity study, a paid parking implementation study, and cost benefit analysis for runway extension. In short, I do not feel that the free amenities we offer to the public is the key to attracting passengers, we look at it as just good customer service. A good selection of airlines, plenty of seat capacity, destination people want to go to, and community support is the true and tested way to attract customers. I could go on about our airport all day, please feel free to give me a call if you need more information.


Fred Segundo
Assistant Director of Aviation McAllen Miller International Airport
Phone: (956) 682-9101
FAX: (956) 687-9826

Initial Recommendations

Thought this was a good time to remember what our initial recommendations, that our on the web page, were almost two years ago:

Recommendations

1. Rename the airport to Boston-Worcester to approve its appeal as alternative to Boston. This has worked very well for Baltimore Washington and Orlando Sanford International Airport.
2. Improve access to and from Route 290 including reverse signage. We need to pick one route as the preffered route versus attempting to direct prospective passengers from every single exit off Route 290.
3. Contact, pursue and invite leisure airline who target secondary cities and provide discount prices to popular leisure destinations (note targeted airlines below).
4. Replace studies with action. Prospective airlines do their own research before entering a market so why waste monies on consultants when we could utilize these same dollars to help advertise airlines who enter this market?
5. Open lines of communication among involved parties with monthly reports from the Airport Director to the City Council pertaining to the budget and prospective airlines.
6. Explore possibility if naming rights for the terminal or airport itself.
7. Generate positive press for the airport. Correct misconceptions about not being able to landing in bad weather and highlight the high level of general aviation activity.
8. Explore new revenue sources including but not limited to the available restaurant slot and lands remaining idle in the Airport Industrial Park.
9. Revise and update the official web page.
10. Start a bumper sticker campaign to generate civic pride and support of the airport. A small oval with the letters ORH?
11. Improve business traveler services specifically FREE WIFI and FREE PARKING!!
12. Recruited airlines need to offered a package that waives fixed overhead expenses and allocated a portion of the $455,000 Small Community Air Service Development Grant from the FAA to their advertising needs.
13. Invite airport management companies to Worcester and review the possibility of putting together an RFP whereby we lease the entire airport to a private management company.
14. The PILOT program for non-profits is extremely controversial. We may look into the possibility of asking local non-profits to contribute to a fund that would help attract a daily business flight which would benefit the entire community.
15. Seek help from the State and Federal Government to upgrade landing system from Category 1 to Category 3 which would enable airplanes to land in heavy fog.

Allegiant Air--Good Businessmen

Allegiant know how to run a business and realize the importance of getting revenues by any means possible. Makes you wonder what is the status of the RFP for the restaurant slot?

Wraps Ads Around Planes

Given that US airlines are currently seeking additional revenue from nearly any source imaginable, perhaps it was inevitable that soon six commercial airliners operated by Allegiant Air will be wrapped in advertising messages. InterAir Media, the company that came up with the (Innovative? Outrageous?) program, unveiled the first such aircraft at the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport on Monday.

"Advertisers are looking high and low for new media to extend the reach of their messages," said InterAir Media CEO Drew Stoddard from his Miami Beach office. "By wrapping planes with logos or messages, we can help them reach to the sky to communicate with customers, literally."
After several years of working in the traditional advertising industry, Stoddard launched InterAir Media to serve clients demanding out-of-the-box communication approaches. He first approached Allegiant Air with the idea in the summer of 2005 -- and it didn't take long for the airline to recognize an easy source of revenue.

Artists are putting final touches on the materials necessary for the initial ad wrap featuring BoDog.com. The branded aircrafts will fly between Las Vegas and 32 other US destinations.
"In today's media environment, consumers are gaining considerable control over their media and are opting out of receiving ad messages," said Billy Stubbs, creative director for Foote, Cone and Belding in New York. "InterAir Media is providing a new medium where advertisers are guaranteed a connection with consumers.

"It's going to be hard to miss such a large message brandished on the side of an airplane," Stoddard said.

McAllen-Miller Airport

Have you ever heard of McAllen-Miller Airport? Other then remembering it being on Allegiant's flight map, I had never heard of it before. The other day my brother-in-law, who flies alot on business, flew through this airport and was very impressed by the amenities and flight options.

Notice on the front page of their website free parking (up to 14 days), free wireless and the overall information available on their website. This seems to be a common thread for any successful secondary airport:

• NorthWest Chicagoland International Airport at Rockford (use to be just Rockford)
• MidAmerica St Louis Airport (think use to be just MidAmerica)
• Palmer Airport

Now take a look at Worcester Regional Airport website. Although I believe a name change makes alot of sense in the long term, a name change typically signifies "new and improved". Lets focus on more flights, free parking, free wireless, a better website, finish the work on Airport Drive and then talk about a name change.

Common Cause Open Government

Common Cause has launched a campaign for open government in Massachusetts, check out the website and the blog.

Here is a section from their home page:

FACT: Strong democracy requires a transparent government and an informed, engaged citizenry.

PROBLEM: In Massachusetts, all citizens do not have easy online access to the information they need to engage in important public debate. Only about 6.8 % of municipalities post six essential public records on the Web.

SOLUTION: Insist that local governments post public records online. Most towns already maintain websites, so this simple and inexpensive act would greatly improve everyone’s ability to be responsible, informed citizens.

Board Minutes

March Board Minutes (below copied from the minutes)

A great deal of discussion occurred regarding the potential name change and the strategy to bring the issue forward. It was decided that Chairman Delehaunty will request a meeting with the City Manager to discuss the Commission's thoughts and to develop a strategy to make a potential recommendation to the public.

What was discussed????

Mass Open Meetings Law (http://www.cbsys.ago.state.ma.us/pubs/oml.htm)

2. Minutes of Meetings

Content: The Open Meeting Law (as well as the Public Records Law, G.L. c. 66, '5A) requires every governmental body to maintain accurate minutes of all its meetings. At a minimum, minutes must set forth the date, time, and place of the meeting, the identity of the members present or absent, and all "action taken."

The District Attorney has interpreted the term "action taken" to include not only votes and other formal decisions made at a meeting, but also discussion or consideration of issues for which no vote is taken or final determination is made. See New England Box Co. v. C & R Construction Co., 313 Mass. 696, 713 (1943). It would be sound practice to also include in the minutes a summary of each discussion held at the meeting.



It does not appear to me that " a great deal of discussion" in the minutes can exactly be considered a summary of the discussion. The minutes of the meeting are suppose to let the public know what the "thoughts" are of the commission???

Airtran Ad

I picked up the Boston Globe today and found a large Airtran ad that reminded me of the JetBlue ad, but there was no identical Airtran ad in the Worcester Telegram. In other words, it is not an automatic that if an airline advertises in the Boston Globe that they take out the same ad in the Worcester Telegram, which is owned by the same company as the Boston Globe. Evidently the underlying airline will determine whether or not the benefits justify the costs.

JetBlue, on the other hand, spends the additional monies to advertise in the Worcester Telegram. What does that tells us?

Worcester Name Change

Manchester Airport had 4.5 million passengers last year, with their number 1 airline, SouthWest, having almost 2 million alone. Bottom line Manchester has the flights and the ability to pull from the Boston catchment market. The addition of Boston to their name can only help their business.

If we add Boston to our name and people look into ORH, they will find we have one airline 4 times per week to Sanford-Orlando. The emphasis, our number 1 priority, should be on additional airlines. The addition of Boston or changing our name to Logan West can not hurt, but it will not help to the degree it may help Manchester who have the underlying flights people are looking for.

The number one priority for ORH is more airlines.

Manchester Votes to Change Name

Boston Globe Story today:

MANCHESTER, N.H. --In a world where airlines are struggling to attract passengers, the Manchester City Council voted Tuesday to rename the local airport Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. Never mind that Boston is about 50 miles away.

The airport has billed itself as a no-hassle alternative to Boston's Logan International Airport. Kevin Dillon, director of Manchester Airport, said he wants to make sure distant travelers who might not know New England's geography understand the airport is close to Boston.

JetBlue Ad

There was a huge ad in today's, as well as yesterday's paper. I even picked up the Boston Globe yesterday and they had the same exact ad. Whoever left a comment saying that JetBlue probably advertises in both papers, since they have the same owenrship and bought a package deal, was absolutely correct.

At the same time, I do not think JetBlue would be making an investment of this size in the Telegram unless they were drawing big numbers to Boston from our catchment area.

Boston City Council Fined

Story in Boston Globe on March 28th details how a superior court judge ruled that the Boston City Council violated the state Open Meeting Law 11 times over a period of almost two years imposing a$11,000 in fines and ordering the body to obey the law or face further action by the district attorney

Here is a small part:

In addition, the judge found, the council set up a shuttle system so that members could deliberate in secret about the proposed urban renewal plans. A BRA staff member counted the number of councilors in the room at any one time so there were never more than six present. Without a quorum, they reasoned, the open meeting law did not apply.

The judge dismissed that argument, as well. ''A governmental body cannot evade the requirements of the Open Meeting Law simply by meeting in smaller groups," she wrote. ''The council's attempt to head count its way around the Open Meeting Law is without merit."

Mass Open Meeting Law

"The purpose of the Open Meeting Law is to eliminate much of the secrecy surrounding the deliberations and decisions on which public policy is based. It accomplishes this purpose by requiring open discussion of governmental action at public meetings. The requirements of the Open Meeting Law grow out of the idea that the democratic process depends on the public having knowledge about the considerations underlying governmental action, for without that knowledge people are not able to judge the merits of action taken by their representatives. The overriding intent of the Open Meeting Law is therefore to foster and indeed require open discussion of governmental action at public meetings. Yet the Law does recognize that public officials might be "unduly hampered" if all discussions by public officials were required to be open. As a result, it specifies certain types of issues that may be discussed and decided in a closed session. These exceptions, however, are limited in number and narrow in scope."

Above Quote from site below..

http://www.cbsys.ago.state.ma.us/pubs/oml.htm

March Minutes

I just posted the March minutes on http://www.flyorh.com, in a word (.doc) not .pdf format. Nothing startling, except maybe the fact:

• NO questions/updates/comments as to the status of negotiations with any potential airlines
• NO questions/updates/comments as to how the $40,000, that has been spent from the DOT grant to a consultant (believe IMG) to recruit an airline, is going

If you review the board meeting minutes the last 9 months, potential airlines, negotiations to attract airlines, etc never seem come up at the board meetings? Although if one reads the Telegram or WoMag , there are on-going negotiations mentioned, including Hooters Air not more then two months ago. On the other hand, mundane items like whether or not a local photographer can use the terminal for a photo shoot does.

How can the status of the recruitment of potential airlines not be discussed at these airport board meetings?

Meigs Airport

Maybe we can learn from Meigs??? This was the airport that was actually closed three years ago.. To be honest, I do not know how much about their history but I will look into it.. I did, however, find a great website (Friends of Meigs Feild) that has a detail of the airport.

CHECK IT OUT!! We do not want to be here 10 years from now tryining to re-open ORH. Sell it now or give long-term lease (99 years) to MassPort ( or another entity).

Open Meetings???

My whole point of doing all of this was to make ORH a successful airport, not to make anyone look bad . Bring people together, who believe in the airport, to help the airport become the asset that I know that it can be. To that end, I wanted to find out all there is to know about the airport and run it like a business.

Before anyone reads any more of this blog, go to http://www.flyorh.com and go to the tab for "Board Minutes". Look at the January minutes from 2005 and the January minutes of 2006, do you notice a difference?? Last year, when the minutes were not on the this web page or on the City web site, the minutes were 9 pages long full of information. Now this year the minutes are two pages long full of non-information. Obviously, nothing is being discussed at board meetings any more for fear that it will be read????? . This is pretty sad, the actual opposite of what I had hoped.

Let me ask this next question... Many people read this blog and make comments, why can't anyone from the airport administration or the airport board add comments?? Believe me if I was working at the airport or on the airport commission, I would read this blog or anything on the airport and made my opinions known. My fear is that my efforts, in the end, to make more information known and make ORH an asset has done just the opposite, less is being known and ORH will continue to be a drain on our fiscal health.

Cost of ORH Fiscal Year 2005

I looked up on the City Web on page 101 of the Annual Financial Report to see how much the ORH cost the City of Worcester. Although the current operating agreement had MassPort paying 100% of the operating deficit, it excluded debt service (note blog below).

The cost last year to Worcester (imagine it came from the General Fund) was $679,555. Debt service, which again it 100% ours, was $630,850. Maybe everyone else knew this already, but I was under the impression that it cost us nothing last year, while MassPort was covering 100% of the operating deficit, surely not $679,555.

FISCAL YEAR ENDING 6/30/5

REVENUES
638,978 fees
1,241,001 intergovernmental (Massport??)
249,648 misc
2,129,627 total revenues

EXPENSES
1,054,629 salaries
1,123,703 maintenance
630,850 debt service
2,809,182 total expenses

679,555 loss ( I believe this number represents the amount the City of Worcester owed)

ORH Debt Service 100% City of Worcester

I found something out today that is very interesting... In calculating the percentage MassPort pays of the operating deficit, it does not include debt service. Let me give you an example, if the aiport was losing $2,000,000 per year, I would have thought MassPort would have calculated their percentage under the current agreement based on the $2,000,000 figure.... This is wrong.

You need to back debt service out of the operating deficit, which is approximately $500,000, then MassPort would have pay their percentage on that amount $1,500,000... Bottom line is that debt service belongs 100% to the City of Worcester, while the balance of the deficit is covered via an operating agreeement..

This is a huge difference, when the debt service is $500,000 per year. Even in Year 1 of the current agreement with MassPort (last fiscal year), whereby they were paying 100% of the operating deficit, it still cost the City of Worcester approximately $500,000 (debt service).

Maybe everyone already knew this, but I did not know this to be the case.

JetBlue Ad

Again today... It was about 7/8ths of the page in Section A. Seriously, you do not see SouthWest putting ad this size in the Worcester Paper and they advertise in the Boston Markets..

JetBlue could bring two of ten JFK shuttles from Boston to ORH and incur no added expenses... In fact they probably save monies, when we waive landing fees, rents, etc. The kicker is they do not have to spend any additional monies to advertise, they already do.

JetBlue Ad

I know everyone must be sick of hearing it, but page 3 of today's sports section had a JetBlue ad that had to cover 7/8ths of the page... Someone made a very good point that when JetBlue advertises in the Boston market with the Boston Globe, they most likely put together a package with the Worcester Telegram (both have the same owners).

At the same time, JetBlue does not waste monies. If they did not feel it was worthwhile to advertise in the Worcester market, I truly believe they would opt out of the Worcester Telegram. JetBlue knows the market is here, we need to entice them to with things like the Small Community Service Grant to ORH.

5385 Passengers!!

Aiport Liaison Niddrie just e-mailed me the following numbers:

• Since inception (Dec 22 thru March 31)
• 49 outbound flights
• 5385 passengers

That is great news. We are half way to 10,000, which will result in the Airport regaining primary airport status and entitling it to approximately $1,000,000 in federal Airport Improvement Progrom funds. The past couple of years, we were still getting these funds, although we had dropped below 10,000 passengers.

We are averaging approximately 108 passengers per flight on a plane that seats 130 people. In other words our load looks to be 83%, which looks pretty good to me??

1st Qtr Passenger Count

The 1st qtr has ended and we should know what the passenger count was from Jan 1st thru March 31st. First, it is simply good to know how we are doing with Allegiant. Second, we need to get 10,000 passengers this year to keep getting $1,000,000 from the FAA.

I will e-mail, and mail letters to our airport liaison asking for this information.

Allegiant Jet

Today I was driving down Park Ave at 10:00AM and saw the Allegiant jet driving over. If you have never seen the Jet coming in, it is pretty impressive.

Bill

Small Community Air Service Grant

I believe that the deadline for this year's grant (potentially the last year it may be around).. Although I have asked numerous times, if we would be applying, I am guessing that we are not. Two years back we were successful and received a grant fro $455,000 but have only submitted expenses of $40,000 to be reimbursed.

Maybe it would be tough to get another grant application approved when we have been slow in utilizing the $455,000 grant that we already have.???

PanAm Expands at Hanscom

BEDFORD -- For some time, commercial aviation at Hanscom Field has taken a back seat to corporate jet activity. But big changes are afoot as Boston-Maine Airways prepares to launch service to the Washington, D.C., area in mid-May and to Pittsburgh by the end of June.
Portsmouth, N.H.-based Boston-Maine has been serving Trenton, N.J., from the Bedford airport since March 2004. It offers five round trips a day, five days a week.

...


The airline has not yet firmed up specific flight plans for Pittsburgh, but it will offer service to that city's airport from Hanscom as well as from Portsmouth and Trenton, Fink said.
With FAA approval, he said, Boston-Maine will have three round trips a day, Monday through Friday, between Bedford and Dulles. One-way fares likely will range from $90 to $135, depending on the time of departure, he said

Manchester Name Change

part of a story:


Craig P. Coy, chief executive of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, has asked authority lawyers to see whether Massport would have any legal standing to oppose Manchester adding Boston to its name.

Notably, however, Massport has over the years seriously considered renaming the Worcester Regional Airport, which it runs under contract with that city, Worcester-Boston Regional to help promote service there. The last major airline offering regular service at Worcester, US Airways Express, left Worcester in February 2003, and currently Worcester has just flights to Orlando on Allegiant Air.

Allegiant Increases Stewart Flight

Eight flights per week!!!


From June 25 through September 2, Allegiant Air is going to double its flights from Stewart Airport at Newburgh to Orlando. The airline announced Friday that it will operate two flights daily Sundays through Thursday.

“Since they started their serve in October 2005, Allegiant Air’s flights have consistently been on time and service has been great,” said airport Marketing Manager Tanya Vanasse.
Allegiant Air flies to Orland Sanford International Airport and will offer one-way fare of $79.
Last week, airline spokeswoman Tyri Squyres said they are exploring other cities to serve from Stewart in the future.

Allegiant's 2nd Florida Destination

There was mention of it in WoMag's Worcesteria this week and I saw the article below today.. I will tell you right now, Allegiant's 2nd Florida destination will be St Pete's!!! Who wants to bet me ???



Allegiant Air doubles Florida flights from Stewart

From June 25 through September 2, Allegiant Air is going to double its flights from Stewart Airport at Newburgh to Orlando. The airline announced Friday that it will operate two flights daily Sundays through Thursday.

“Since they started their serve in October 2005, Allegiant Air’s flights have consistently been on time and service has been great,” said airport Marketing Manager Tanya Vanasse.
Allegiant Air flies to Orland Sanford International Airport and will offer one-way fare of $79.

Last week, airline spokeswoman Tyri Squyres said they are exploring other cities to serve from Stewart in the future.

Local Airport Sold

See it is not so far-fetched when I say sell ORH!!



Eagle Leasing buys Oxford AirportOXFORD -- The Eagle Leasing Co. (www.eagleleasing.com) of Massachusetts and Connecticut has purchased approximately 24 acres of land known as the Oxford Airport for $750,000 from Astro Wings Inc. and Oxford Airport Inc. Eagle Leasing, which specializes in leasing storage, road and office trailers as well as ground level storage containers throughout the Northeast, plans to use the site for storage and distribution purposes. The property was most recently used for non-commercial flights and the airport was decommissioned in October of 2005. William Kelleher, vice president, and Matthew Mayrand, associate broker, of Kelleher & Sadowsky Associates Inc. of Worcester, brokered the sale.

JetBlue Ad

There were at least two large ads on the back front of the front section of the Telegram today. I know that this may be part of a package deal with the Boston Globe, who owns the T & G, but anyway you look at it JetBlue is spending alot of monies advertising in the Worcester catchment area. Still believe diverting two JFK shuttles to ORH of the ten from out of Boston makes sense for all parties.

Putting that arguement aside, I wish someone would at least customize the ad for Worcester. The ad shows a Riverside MBTA subway. Maybe a train leaving Union Station would be more appropriate for the Worcester Telegram.

Allegiant Air Drops Oklahoma City

If the numbers are not there, Allegiant will drop you:



Discount Airline Makes Final Flight From Oklahoma CityApr 04, 2006

A discount airline is pulling out of the Oklahoma City market. Allegiant Air made its last flight out of Will Rogers World Airport today. It's citing rising fuel prices and lack of passengers for its decision.

The Las Vegas-based carrier first flew out of Oklahoma City in October 2004 and at its peak had 2,570 passengers a month on its one-way flights to Las Vegas. But a spokeswoman for the airline says its passenger numbers in Oklahoma City were consistently at the bottom of its system.

DOT Monies

Small Community Air Service Grant was awarded in the amount of 442,615 to help ORH attract air service. Although there is a lag time between what has been spent and what has been reported to the DOT for reimbursement, I am a little disappointed to see that 39,375.51 of the 43,449.26 submitted for reimbursement were monies spent on a consultant.

Between the New England Regional Air Study Plan, the $100,000 IMG Study and the 20 Year Master Plan, not to mention our partner MassPort and the management in place at ORH, one would not think that we would need to spend another 39,375 on a consultant to help us attract service. These monies would be better spent on an actual carrier to attract them to ORH.

It was mentioned before that we had to spend the monies, since it was in the original application, but free parking was also in the original application and we did not do that. Lets just hope the remaining DOT grant monies actually go to airlines to attract air service versus consultant services.

Manchester to Add Boston to Name?

That's right Manchester is thinking of adding Boston to its name..


MANCHESTER, N.H. --The director of Manchester Airport says he's considering recommending the airport's name be changed to make sure distant travelers know it's close to Boston.

Kevin Dillon said Manchester-Boston Regional Airport is one possibility.
The airport bills itself as a no-hassle alternative to Boston's Logan International Airport, and Dillon said he wants to make sure distant travelers who might not know New England's geography understand the airport is close to Boston.

Information from Airport Liaison

Today I received information in regards to my requests. Here is a summary. If anyone wants to see any of the actual information, let me know and I will fax it to you.

1) Income Statement for Six Months of this Fiscal Year

I was told to ask City Auditor DelSignore. I will do that.

2) Monthly Parking Reports From LAZ Parking

I only received the revenues received, not the monthly reports from LAZ. I will request the actual reports, to see the actual net income that the City of Worcester is deriving from the parking lots. In the meantime here are the revenues

Dec-5 $2,350 (5 flights)
Jan-6 $3,770 (10 flights)
Feb-6 $7,715 (15 flights)
March-6 $3,311 (5 flights)

$17,146 Total Revenues Collected

3) DOT monies

Reimbursement requests from the DOT can only be submitted after the City of Worcester has received a bill from the underlying vendor, processed them, sent the check and received the cancelled check back. In other words there is a lag thus the report below does not include the $50,000 inaugural campaign for Allegiant. Keeping that in mind, here is how the DOT grant monies have been spent to date:

consultant (recruiting airlines) $39,375.51
marketing (poster) $740.00
marketing (fliers) $920.00
marketing (radio ad) $1,500.00
marketing (event) $726.75
marketing (event) $75.00
marketing (event) $112.00

Total $43,449.26
We get reimbursed at a level of 72.73%
Estimated Reimbursement $31,600.65


Since the total grant was $442,615 less the $31,600.65, it looks like we have $411,014 remaining (not counting the Allegiant campaign). Lastly I have e-mailed this blog to our airport liaison to make sure that all the information above is correct.

20 Year Master Plan

One of the reasons cited for a delay in progress on the Master Plan was the need for information from the New England Regional Air Study Plan. Marc Champigny of Louis Berger, company doing the study, sent me the following e-mail... Looks like we are ready to proceed.


Mr. Randell, The NERASP project has delivered the base forecasts and detailed descriptions of passenger demand to all of the study airports, including Worcester. This was the essential data that the Worcester Master Plan wanted to include in its analysis of its future needs. There are additional analysis being performed to test the effect of changes in access or airline behavior on the ultmate size of Worcester's market in a long term time fame. While this information will not be available for another four to six weeks, it is not an impediment to continuing progress on Worcester's master plan. This was the concensus of the recent Technical Advisory Committee on March 30, 2006. Thank you for your inquiry.

MassPort Top 3 Destinations

Page 91 of below referenced MassPort financials fiscal year ending 6/30/4. Top 3 destinations:

1. New York/Newark 10.40%
2. Florida South 5.60%
3. DC 5.30%

Again, very interesting report. The size of MassPort amazes me. Fiscal year operting income for fiscal 2004 was $415,000,000.

MassPort Financials

I just went on-line and found their financials for fiscal year ending 6/30/4:

http://www.massport.com/about/pdf/c_fy04_cafr.pdf


The size of the agency is incredible. Two notes on ORH in there:

Page 5: "Legislation action would be required for the Authority to take title." I say lets get it started.

Page 106: "All payments made under the Worcester Operating Agreement have been made from cash from the Improvement and Extension fund." Improvement and extension sounds like the eventual extention for MassPort to take over ORH.

The more and more I think of it, we need to sell ORH to MassPort...

Naming Rights

One of our original ideas was to sell naming rights to the airport or, in the very least the terminal. Imagine selling the ability to rename the airport to whoever buys it? Sound far-fetched, check out: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05319/606553.stm

Here is a portion:


Ladiese and gentlemen, welcome to Pittsburgh-Heinz International Airport.
Sound strange? It is. No international airport in the country has adopted a corporate name.
Allegheny County Councilman Ed Kress wants Pittsburgh to be the first. He's introducing a bill at tonight's council meeting that calls on the county to sell the airport's name to the highest bidder, starting at no less than $5 million annually over a 10-year period.

"It's a great advertising location," said Mr. Kress, R-Shaler. He may be right. About 14 million people use the airport year, according to JoAnn Jenny, a spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Airport Authority.

JetBlue Airport has a nice ring, doesn't it??

Sell ORH

That's right sell ORH... As one of the biggest fans of ORH, I have always seen and still see the untapped potential in ORH. Over the past two years trying to deal with the current management structure, I have come to realize the City of Worcester has no business being in the airport management business. This is pretty common practice in the City of Worcester, as exemplified by DCU Center or Convention Center, where professional management companies run the day to day operations.. Same goes for Union Station now.

It would be very difficult to get a management company, however, to take over ORH, unless we offered a long-term deal (99 years) like they did at Stewart Airport in upstate New York. Although I still believe that an RFP should have been put out 21 months ago, we are running out of time; for example, we can not put out an RFP for a restaurant slot, imagine how long an RFP to run the airport would take?

What options are left?? There are two-CLOSE ORH or SELL ORH. Sorry Charley Farely, first we are not sure hot the FAA will treat past grants, to determine how much that we would owe if we closed, and and secondly I still believe in the potential of a successful ORH. All of this has lead me to believe, we need to SELL ORH.

Whats the point of getting MassPort to extend the contract another three years?? They are not committed to the success of ORH and we will just flounder for another three years. At the same time can you really blame MassPort for not being committed? I don't. What benefit do they derive from spending time and effort turning ORH around? Answer-none.

On the other hand, what if MassPort actually owned ORH? Now, they would have a vested interest to make ORH successful, as the owners not just a temporary custodian. At the same time, we should not just limit ourselves to MassPort as the only potential buyer... We have 15 months until a $2,000,000 bill is on our desk, SELL ORH now!!!

Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority

Take a look a at how the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority markets Buffalo and Niagara airports. The similarities between Boston and Worcester are striking. Now read about their plans to pump $23 million into Niagara Airport. This is a great story and way too long to print here.

Check out this link:

http://artvoice.com/issues/v5n13/niagara_falls_airport_changing_with_the_world

The line that jumped out to me was "Since it was opened in 1928, and later purchased by the NFTA from the City of Niagara Falls for $2 million in 1970" Maybe the only way to get MassPort truly committed to ORH is to actually sell the airport to me.

Unlike Charley Farley, who said "CloseORH", I say "SellORH" to MassPort..

JetBlue

The past two weeks, I have been putting up blogs that we need to get two of the Embraer shuttles from Boston - JFK diverted to ORH. Trying to back that up with things like the advertisements in the Telegram, no overhead that we could offer, grant monies and the fact many people could be won over from SouthWest..

For the most part, the comments have been that there is no way this will happen. Obviously, everyone has the right to disagree, but let me ask you this. If we do not think that we can get two shuttles from an airport that is managed by the same company (MassPort) as us, exactly what flights or airlines do you think we can get??

The political reality is that based on a $2,000,ooo operating deficit and the current contract with our management company (MassPort):

• July 1st, 2006, the City of Worcester will have to pay $640,000 per year (32%)
• July 1st, 2007, the City of Worcester will have to cover the entire deficit ($2,000,000)

In 15 months, we (the tax-payers of Worcester) are looking at a $2,000,000 bill. My point is that if you think JetBlue does not make sense then tell me what does. If you can not come up with anything then it looks like Charley Farley make in fact be right--CLOSEORH.