U.S. Transit Chief: Feds To Help With Worcester Airport
PHOTO/RICK SAIA
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, center, listens while U.S. Rep. James McGovern addresses a press conference at Worcester Regional Airport on Monday. At right is David Mackey, interim director of Massport.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood pledged the federal government's help Monday in improving the infrastructure around Worcester Regional Airport and the technology within it to help boost flight activity at the site.
LaHood, concluding a tour of key transportation venues in the city with U.S. Rep. James McGovern, said infrastructure around the airport, especially an access road, is "pretty important" in trying to bring air passengers to Worcester.
LaHood's remarks come just three months after the lone commercial passenger air carrier at Worcester, Direct Air, canceled all its flights and filed for federal bankruptcy protection. In April, a federal court ordered the company's liquidation.
“We need to be helpful in … jump-starting opportunities for this airport in terms of the jobs that are created by the airlines flying in and out,” LaHood said at an afternoon press conference at the airport. “Airports are economic engines for communities. They provide an enormous amount of economic development” through jobs at and outside the airport.
McGovern agreed, adding, “Our challenge is to get a couple of airlines in here.This is an airport that can succeed.”
Worcester Not A 'Hard Sell'
The congressman said the airport is “not a hard sell” based on the steady increase in passenger traffic Direct Air experienced during the four years it operated there. State officials have within the past year tried to convince discount carrier JetBlue to fly out of Worcester. David Mackey, the interim CEO and executive director for Massport, which oversees airport operations, seemed to be hopeful that JetBlue would schedule flights out of Worcester. He said the carrier looks at this area from a regional perspective and suggested that JetBlue could look at Worcester since it flies out of Boston Logan International Airport, which Mackey said can’t expand to accommodate more flights..
Both LaHood and Mackey addressed the topic of upgrading technology that can help improve flight navigation at the high-elevation airport, given the sometimes-foggy conditions there. Mackey said Massport will look at investing in a system that could cost an estimated $25 million to $30 million, although he said the agency hasn’t discussed how much Massport could contribute to that.
Earlier in the day at Union Station, where LaHood was briefed on efforts to upgrade rail and build a bus-and-rail transportation hub at the site, the transportation secretary said he was impressed with how government officials and the private sector have joined to push for the city’s transportation needs at the downtown landmark. “Where I see success is where communities come together,” he said.
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