New Jet Service Fuels Debate Over T.F. Green Airport Expansion

March 2, 2004

New Jet Service Fuels Debate Over Airport Expansion 
Turn to 10.com, RI


WARWICK, R.I. -- Wide-body jet service has come to
T.F. Green Airport, six years before planners
expected.

The debut of scheduled 767 service could fuel the
growing debate over airport expansion.

The Airport Corporation's board of directors is
expected to vote this month or next on whether to ask
the FAA for authority to extend the main runway. 

A longer runway could bring more wide-body jets and
people to the airport. Business interests welcome both
prospects, but opponents fear congestion and
never-ending expansion.

Delta used the wide-body plane for five days last
month as a test and reported strong demand.

Mark Brewer, acting executive director of the Airport
Corporation, said Delta switched back to a 182-seat
757 last week, when demand dropped, but expects to
bring in the bigger plane again.

"The next time will be over spring break, when college
students go on vacation,'' he said. "It's going to be
a recurring theme'' whenever demand is high enough.

Boeing 767s have flown out of Green before, on
occasional charter flights, or when smaller jets had
to be taken out of service for unforeseen repairs. But
the recent five-day tryout on flights to Atlanta
marked the first time an airline had offered scheduled
wide-body jet service in Rhode Island.

The wide-body jets are much larger than the typical
737 based at Green. They can lift roughly two to three
times the weight of a fully loaded 737.

Though bigger and heavier, 767s are also quieter than
many 737s.

The gates in the Bruce Sundlun Terminal were designed
for jets no larger than the Boeing 757, which United
introduced to Green in 1998.

Brewer said Delta had to reconfigure the last gate in
the south concourse to accommodate the 767 from
Atlanta. The alterations would not have been possible
at a gate that had neighboring gates on each side, he
said.

The airport master plan calls for expanding the
terminal and building 18 new gates by 2020, for a
total of 40.

James Hagan, president of the Greater Providence
Chamber of Commerce, thinks wide-body jet service" ...
makes a case for a longer runway. It's a quieter
aircraft, and one plane could take the place of two
planes, so you'd have less traffic, still accommodate
the same number of people, and it would have the same
economic impact.''

But Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, who opposes a
longer runway, complained the use of the larger plane
should have been discussed with city officials.

"Getting quieter planes is always a goal; however to
go to such a large plane ... without any discussion
really shows you that the Airport Corporation ...
doesn't want to work with us,'' he said. "To find out
after the fact is just inappropriate.'' 
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