"Massachusetts airport has security, but no flights"

Sunday, June 15, 2003

Worcester  airport has security, but no flights
The Associated Press


WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) A state commission has awarded the little-used
Worcester Regional Airport $213,800 for security, even though the airport no
longer provides any commercial passenger service.

Rep. John Binienda, D-Worcester, said the grant by the Massachusetts
Aeronautics Commission was an investment in a regional asset that he was
optimistic would someday be revitalized.

''You're thinking toward the future, and the private jets there now could be
a (security) problem,'' he told the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester.
''Everything's in place. All we need is airlines and passengers.''

He also said: ''There's a lot of problems in the world, and we have to make
sure our airport is safe, even if it is now only for privately owned planes.
People want to fly out of a safe place. If we had a disaster up there, it
would kill it for sure.''

USAirways was the last to leave the airport, pulling out in March.

The federal Transportation Security Administration has transferred its
security workers and most of its equipment to other airports.

Ann E. Davis, a spokeswoman for the TSA, told the newspaper that the federal
agency no longer considered the airport a security threat because it had no
commercial flights.

''We consider Worcester a general aviation airport,'' Davis said. ''If
airlines wanted to use Worcester, we'd definitely come back. We'd have to.''

The money will be used for a computerized gate system to control access to
the runways and to install lighting in the general aviation section of the
airport, which is used by small private planes.

''There's a need for security at the airport even though they don't have
commercial service,'' said Robert J. Mallard, executive director of the
aeronautics commission. ''It's stuff they'll need anyway.''

The money comes mostly from the Federal Aviation Administration, which
provided 90 percent of the grant - $192,420. The rest is from the state.

The recent round of security grants, which also went to six other airports,
is part of a $15 million expenditure on security equipment at smaller
Massachusetts airports since Sept. 11, 2001.

Officials at the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport,
welcomed the grant, saying the money would help secure the small plane area.

''It's still a very active field,'' said Jose Juves, a Massport spokesman.

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