JetBlue would like to grow in Worcester, its CEO told a crowd of 120 Wednesday, but that growth likely would not include travel to business-related destinations.
Commercial traffic will return to Worcester Regional Airport on Nov. 7, when the New York-based airline will commence daily flights on 100-seat Embraer 190 aircraft to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. That will end a 20-month stint without commercial passenger service out of Central Massachusetts, stemming from the 2012 bankruptcy of Direct Air.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that Worcester works for us,” CEO Dave Barger said during a keynote speech at the Central Mass Business Expo at the DCU Center. “People love their airports, and when you have service close by, they will come.”
Barger cited JetBlue’s success at Bradley International Airport near Hartford as a best-case scenario for Worcester. Like in Worcester, JetBlue started with one daily flight from Bradley to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, which Barger considers the airline’s “layup” destinations, particularly when the weather is cold.
JetBlue now serves Bradley with up to 10 daily departures to destinations including West Palm Beach, Tampa, Fort Myers and San Juan, Barger said.
Absent from that list, though, are destinations frequented by business travelers.
Barger said JetBlue typically concentrates its business flights in major cities such as Boston and New York. Flights to smaller markets such as Worcester are usually geared toward leisure travelers looking to visit friends or relatives, he said.
JetBlue is unafraid to saturate a market if it believes it can meet demand, Barger said. The carrier flies to five airports in the New York metro area; with the addition of Worcester, JetBlue will now have year-round service to six New England airports.
“This whole region for us is really doing so well,” Barger said. Travelers “don’t want to travel a long time for an airport.”
Earlier this week, JetBlue and the airport received a financial boost from the federal government to help promote the new flights. The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), which operates the airport, said the Worcester facility has been awarded a $350,000 Small Community Air Service Development grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The money will be used to implement a targeted marketing and advertising campaign to promote the JetBlue flights and re-establish Worcester as a viable commercial air service market.
JetBlue has hired 19 Worcester-based crew members who are going through orientation, Barger said.
Read more
