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WORCESTER – Private charter airline Rectrix Aviation will start seasonal flights between Worcester Regional Airport and Cape Cod on Thursday, bringing a new shuttle service to the small airport.
The flights on the nine-seat aircraft will cater to travelers making weekend trips to their vacation homes and willing to pay $159 for a one-way ticket securing a seat on a 30-minute flight.
Richard Cawley, chief executive of parent company Rectrix Commercial Aviation Services Inc. of Concord, told public officials gathered today at the airport that he expects initial flights between Worcester and Hyannis will not be full. That will change over time, just as the airline’s service between Hyannis and Nantucket grew, he said.
“It will start slow, but it will gain traction,” Mr. Cawley said. “By next year, our flights will be full.”
Captain and Assistant Chief Pilot David Crookes and Captain Zach Lesinski (left to right)Rectrix launched operations in Worcester in 2012 as the airport’s fixed-base operator, providing aeronautical services such as fueling. Mr. Cawley said Rectrix has invested about $7 million in Worcester operations to date, including the new shuttle service.
The shuttle investment includes purchase of a Beech Super King Air B300 turbo-prop airplane and the hiring of about five additional employees, according to Mr. Cawley.
Flights will depart from Worcester at 4:45 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, arriving 30 minutes later at Barnstable Municipal Airport near downtown Hyannis. Return flights will run at 7 p.m. on Sundays, 7:30 a.m. on Mondays and 3:45 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays.
Flights will likely continue until a week after Labor Day, then resume next year, Mr. Cawley said.
The first flight is scheduled to arrive in Worcester at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday with former Boston Bruins player Bobby Orr, a spokesman for Rectrix, on board.
Ticket information is available online at flyrectrix.com.
Perched on about 1,330 hilltop acres on the Leicester line, Worcester Regional Airport has long maintained service for charter flights and private planes even as it has struggled to attract commercial airlines. At its height in 1989, more than 340,000 people used the airport, according to the Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns and operates the airport.
The only commercial service currently available is JetBlue Airways Corp. daily flights to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida, although the airline is planning to add service to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York starting in 2018.
Massport said in its annual report that the Worcester airport posted about $1.6 million in revenue during the fiscal year ending in June 2016, about $9.4 million in operating expenses and an operating deficit of about $7.8 million.
A Massachusetts Department of Transportation economic impact study, however, said the airport adds more than $51 million in economic activity to the region, and the airport’s boosters would like to see that increase.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said the new Rectrix service will connect travelers from the Central Massachusetts region to the Cape and islands.
“This is another pivotal moment for Worcester and this airport, for us to be able to have investors like Rectrix to continue to believe in this city, to believe in this airport, to invest the dollars into the infrastructure and the planes and the crew is really tremendous,” Ms. Polito said.
As public officials celebrated the launch of Rectrix service to Cape Cod, Rectrix employees showed off a plane that could be making the flights. The plane features a central aisle, basic seats and two pilots.
Captain David Crookes flew large aircraft for Continental Airlines and United Airlines for years, but said he loves flying the much smaller Beech Super King Air plane. The aircraft cruises long at 250 knots, or about 288 miles per hour, and Worcester passengers will likely fly at heights of 3,000 to 5,000 feet.
Flying “this plane is like driving a sports car,” Mr. Crookes said. “It’s a Ferrari.”
Story: http://www.telegram.com
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