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WORCESTER, Mass. - Central Massachusetts travelers may soon be able to fly to Florida or the Caribbean without having to travel all the way into Boston, following a successful visit by JetBlue CEO David Barger to Worcester on Wednesday.
“Worcester feels very JetBlue,” Barger said following a visit with state and city officials regarding the airline flying out of Worcester Regional Airport.
Barger said the deal is very near completion and is only a matter of the company figuring out its fleet schedules. He noted all of their planes are booked through 2012, but said the company is still deciding on its plans for 2013.
If service were to come to Worcester, Barger said JetBlue would look to fly to Florida initially and possibly some of the Caribbean destinations.
“Many snowbirds in New England like to head to Florida and a lot of people fly to Ft. Myers to see the Red Sox preseason,” Barger said.
Worcester Regional Airport was last served by Direct Air, which grounded all flights in March.
Barger said he was pleased to see so much investment across the city of Worcester and in the region, including street and landscaping, new construction and other investments.
“Every aspect of the community is really on the same page,” Barger said, noting his meetings with community leaders and businesspeople on Wednesday.
MassPort, the owner of Worcester Regional Airport, officials also announced on Wednesday they they would upgrade to the navigation system in September to make the airport more viable for carriers like JetBlue. This upgrade is on top of another $9 million slated for improvements to the airport in the next year.
Lt. Gov. Tim Murray also met with Barger as part of the state’s effort to bring JetBlue to Worcester.
“You bring in JetBlue and it’s going to take it to a whole other level,” said Murray, highlighting the importance of airport activity to the state’s economy.
Worcester Mayor Joseph O’Brien said he believes the deal is only a matter of time.
“I hope next time we’re signing full service by jetBlue,” O’Brien said. “It is a great fit for the community, the region and the airport.”
Barger also hinted that he and other company officials would be coming back to Worcester soon.
“We hope to be back in the very near future,” Barger said. He noted the company wouldn’t make an official announcement until four to six months prior to bringing service to the airport.
Comments (9)
Yes. Because, after all, every other such endeavor related,to this airport has been such a smashing success.
More of the same from the city leadership's unbending, and historically-belied, belief that "if you build it they will come...."
My family uses the Worcester airport all the time. It's a great little airport, that is way too hard to get to. I'm not sure that it's a commercial location, because of its access issues.
Will Jet Blue fly into and out of D.C and from the west coast specifically Las Vegas?. That would be my question.
When I fly, I base my decisions on (1) ticket prices, (2) time required to get to my destination, (3) time to get to the airport, (4) parking.
Worcester usually scored low on these factors because (1) ticket prices were higher than either Green or Logan; (2) with so few direct flights, the time required to get to my destination was always much longer; (3) Worcester scored a few points based on time to get to the airport (30 minutes to Worcester, 45 minutes to Logan, 50 minutes to Green); Worcester loses on parking because it is not covered, as are both Green and Logan. If JetBlue is going to offer competitive prices and direct flights (Chicago, Austin, LA, etc), then I will choose Worcester.
Here's a suggestion (again): offer flights from Worcester to Nantucket or the Vineyard. Now, that's a nice day out!
How can I get to Worcester Airport without going through Webster Square or Tatnuck? There must be a direct road like Boston or Providence or basically any other city airport in the country has, isn't there? You mean I have to drive through those bottlenecks? Well maybe I’ll take Amtrak to Worcester instead. What do you mean Amtrak doesn’t stop in Worcester? Why not? I guess I’ll just drive straight to downtown Worcester on the turnpike from Boston. What do you mean the turnpike doesn’t go straight through Worcester? Does this place “Worcester” even exist? Or is it a myth like “Camelot”?
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Regardless of whether or not Worcester Airport is upgraded to allow planes to take off and land during inclement weather, if JetBlue does signs on, I would give them 2 years or less before they leave. I have watched many airlines come and go at this airport in my lifetime and in my opinion, the real reason they have all left is because of the runway length. The airlines can't bring in large enough aircraft to support the ROI needed to turn a profit, especially with fuel costs today. This point has been brought up several times from the airlines that have already left and the runway is never going to be extended and we all know the reason for that.
Even if they could, an airline depends on filling each and every seat on an aircraft before it takes off and JetBlue will be having enough troubles filling all the seats on the largest aircraft they can bring into Worcester on an ongoing basis unless they have a very limited plane schedule. IMHO, a new casino has a better chance of success where the Worcester Airport is than JetBlue trying to survive.
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Worcester Mayor Joseph O’Brien said he believes the deal is only a matter of time.
“I hope next time we’re signing full service by jetBlue,” O’Brien said. “It is a great fit for the community, the region and the airport.”
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Readers are left wondering who Ms. Corcoran is quoting in this article -- was it *former* Worcester Mayor Joe O'Brien, *current* Worcester Mayor Joe Petty, or current *City Manager* _Mike_ O'Brien. One way or another, the story has a major boo-boo in that quote. One is tempted to assume that dailyvoice.com has no copy editors to catch this stuff.
Worcester Airport is a gem in the rough. In order to make it successful Massport and the City must upgrade the airport to allow planes to take off and land during inclement weather. If this is not done first then Jet Blue will just be next in line to fail at this location. Bootom line: Massport and the City need to make the airport useful then improve the roadways to get there.