Even without concerts the WooSox probably made a ton of money, why would they add concerts. On the other hand where is all the development which was suppose to be built at the same time as the stadium? All I see is ONE building that is not even completely framed. At the ground breaking a year ago the REVISED schedule said it would be open by now. It is not even totally framed. Financially the WooSox are cashing in and we are paying for it. The ultimate bait and switch.
Anonymous said…
AA flight diverted to Boston today. ORH to JFK canceled.
JetBlue ORH to JFK delayed. JFK to ORH 10:50pm canceled.
Delta LGA to ORH and ORH to LGA delayed until tomorrow.
B. Frank said…
Can someone please explain what purpose anonymous's comment about delays, cancellatios, and diversions serves? Seems like whenever they occur at Worcester, someone has to post about it. What about the hundreds of days everything ran on time? Crickets. So, as a result, whoever reads this blog is left with the impression that this is all that happens at the airport. Get over it. This is the world of airline operations. Weather happens, mechanicals happen, unavailable crews happen, congestion happens, delays happen, cancellations happen. Yesterday, the US had 5960 delays and 231 cancelations. But OMG a couple happened in Worcester! The sky is falling!!!!
Anonymous said…
Also, the delay/cancellation data requires context. How many other flights at other airports had similar issues? We’re any delays or,cancellations the result of something that happened at another airport where the plane was earlier in the day (thus have nothing to do with Worcester)?
The reports are for flights later in the day, where the chances of issues rises dramatically as a problem early somewhere cascades and spreads throughout the country as thee day goes on (e.g. a plane delayed at ATL that arrives at JFK late will be late, or canceled or crew timed out -escalating things further- and be late at the next stop).
B. Frank said…
Thanks for validating my point irregular operations happened all day affecting Worcester too. And those causes are lacking context too. So, lets not ass-u-me its a Worcester problem. Still no explanation on what puurpose that comment serves.
Anonymous said…
All JetBlue JFK flights canceled today. All AA JFK flights canceled today. All Delta LGA flights canceled today.
Rusty said…
Yea….the visibility was near zero the entire day. It could have been Logan International on top of Tatnuck hill, the flights still would’ve been cancelled. The location of the airport is what it is. It’s on top of a hill at the edge of a massive shelf & yesterday the fog was so low & so thick the entire day that means even CAT III equipped stuff can’t make it in 90% of the time. The airport is built in a fog prone location, there’s nothing that can be done about it. It’s not newsworthy, it just is what it is. Sometimes the flights won’t make it in due to fog. Logan has the same issue but in reverse. Logan is on the ocean. Logan has a real issue with middle of the day fog that rolls in off the ocean front. Usually happens opposite ORH’s fog issue. When Logan has fog off the ocean, ORH is usually clear as it’s 1,000ft up. When ORH has fog, the lower lvl airports such as Logan & PVD are ok as their still below the fog lvl. There’s no point making a big deal about it. There are going to be days that nothing can make it into ORH due to visibility, even with CAT III. The airports sits on the edge of a Massive shelf (the Berkshires start at tatnuck hill), this unique location causes more fog than other locations. It’s just a fact that must be accepted. Now let’s move on.
Clark Griswald said…
Once again, Rusty is spot on. The only thing I would add is that "local" weather usually includes NYC airports too. Together, JFK, LGA and EWR had about 400 inbound and outbound cancellations and over 900 delays yesterday. BOS had 60 cancellations and 350 delays. PVD? 8 and 18. 80% of ORH flights go to NYC. Of course NYC weather had an impact on ORH. If they cant get to ORH, they cant leave. Flights coming from other airports made it - aka FLL. There's your "context" Anonymous. I'm with B Frank. Whats the purpose of posting ORH's status, when its ugly, if you're not including known "context", like regional activity and balancing it by reporting good days? In Rusty we trust. Must be in the genes. Lets move on.
I’m wondering if the Marrican data includes flights booked on JetBlue but flown by American.
That’s happened to me twice Imwasnt paying close enough attention when booking and ended up in a super tiny seat on AA.
Anonymous said…
Time changes for tomorrow for JetBlue, JFK midday flight 100-155 to 259-358. Return flight 240-340 to 459-600. Fort Lauderdale (minor change): 1158-300 to 30 minutes earlier. Jfk flight will be interesting because they almost overlap with Delta
Delta tomorrow: LGA-ORH 40/69- 58%, ORH-LGA 35/69 -51%. Numbers are improving but we need to be hitting 75% to see another flight
Anonymous said…
Delta only offers one flight a day between ORH-LGA, with a very bad schedule time, but the cities below get two flights a day right from the start. We should be able to do better at ORH!
"Delta adds 3 new NYC routes as it shifts regional focus from Detroit Specifically, the airline will add:
LGA — Greater Binghamton Airport (BGM) LGA — University Park Airport (SCE) JFK — Ithaca Tompkins International Airport (ITH)
All three routes will be flown up to twice daily through the end of the schedule (with some weekend days only operating on a once-daily frequency)."
Link https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-air-lines-adds-nyc-routes/
Anonymous said…
Big announcement at the airport tomorrow? Stage, video screens, 100 chairs, PA? I'm hearing Prime Air building a northeast hub. Makes sense after Massport made dozens of acres available over the summer.
Anonymous said…
I’d be surprised if ORH is the pick. We have the shortest runway compared to BDL, PVD, BOS, and MHT (I don’t think a 767 can technically land here, only a 757 or A321) and as last week showed, the fog and elevation is horrible for landing when you can’t see anything. Someone mentioned here before about a big announcement and said it was breeze announcing service but turns out it was just Andy Davis as the speaker of an event taking place at the airport which it will most likely be again.
Anonymous said…
Just went up there to see if there were any hints or clues, there were cameras and quite a bit of chairs. I couldn’t see any screens (I was driving my less than 10 mph to not look suspicious). There was no banner’s or anything covering anything on the wall where that empty check in area is at the front of terminal 1 so I believe it isn’t a new airline. They had banners next to the stage but I couldn’t make out what they said but they were Massport banners so it could be an airport announcement but who knows. Hopefully it’s an expansion for either JetBlue to MCO, American to DCA, or Delta to ATL but not sure what it exactly is (couldn’t find anything online for it either)
Anonymous said…
The event today at ORH was to celebrate it’s 1,000,000th passenger since 2013 which including covid years means that ORH is averaging 100,000+ passengers a year since Massport took it over in 2013 and flights started operating which is great. Masslive posted an article on it and mentioned that rehab of the 2nd half of runway 29/11 will start in 2023 and there will also be a new taxiway added (ORH surprisingly does not have one that extends All the way down the runway and the one they have is only used so planes can turn around and go back to the terminal or turnaround to enter runway 11). They did not mention any expansion of service unfortunately however, that new taxiway might be a clue that something could be coming because planes right now do not need it but if more passenger flights or freight comes to ORH, then it really will be a useful thing that’s added. Hopefully we hear some good news soon about an expansion.
Rusty said…
All preliminary studies & environmental work has already been completed for a parallel taxiway to 11/29 between Taxiways ‘G’ (Gulf) & ‘D’ (Delta). The studies where conducted side by side with the studies for the construction of ‘G’ (Gulf) as it stands today as a ‘Jug Handle’ at the end of 29. The environmental studies came back as No Significant Findings and the estimated cost was 350 million. I think I might still have concept pictures of it still laying around, will have to double check. However, at the time the cost of the Jug Handle was under $100 million vs $350 million, so they ended up only building that. However like I said, all the blue prints, designs, environmental studies, etc are already complete for a full parallel taxiway. Expect construction of the remainder of the parallel to take 1 year once work begins in ‘23 with no significant impact to operations as the taxiway is opposite the glide slope & ILS and therefore should have little to no effect on flights.
Anonymous said…
Maybe instead of spending another $250 million up there they should try to promote and improve upon the service we already have. It's not like this is an airport bustling with activity. And how the h*ll does this cost $250 million dollars to build??? I just did a quick Google search and found that Atlanta just opened a new taxiway at a cost of $81 million. The airport in Burlington VT opened a new taxiway about 2 years ago at a cost of approximately $70 million ($35 million grant and $35 million paid by the airport). Then again, this is Massachusetts and there is the usual graft that goes on here. When all is said and done it'll probably be way over budget and the contract for the work will go to some politically connected company no doubt.
I found it kind of foolish that there was a "celebration" for the 1 millionth passenger up there today. I'm sure American Airlines isn't celebrating their 25% passenger loads, or Delta their 45% loads or JetBlue their 50% loads to NY. The optics of it all just look bad. They clearly have money to put on a celebration to give all the politicians their photo ops. I'd like to know how many of those politicians actually use Worcester Airport on a regular basis. Maybe they should have kept the celebration a little more low key and put some of that money into promoting the airport a bit more and pushing for a better schedule. If they had promoted the airport a bit more they would have been well over a million passengers by now.
Anonymous said…
$350 million is extreme yes however I don’t know how ORH is compared to the rest of the area but some of its surrounding area is like a swamp. For example, the baseball field (Spillane field) located right near the airport is extremely bad when it rains and takes more than 2 days to fully dry up after it rains. Now am I saying that Worcester airport is like that? No but can it be like that? Potentially yes. If it is, then that’s where the huge amount of money needed comes into play because then you have to do more to make it sturdy and able to handle all of that weight of an A321 or B757 (yes I know those planes don’t fly into the airport, but that’s what ORH can currently handle and there’d be no point in making it any different if the rest of the airport can currently handle it).
Watched WCVB. (Channel 5) when they did their interview w everyone and talked about it, not once did I hear an expansion of service or anything like new airlines coming in, trying to get more flights, etc. As we know in the past, they could really not be trying but who knows hopefully I’m wrong in thinking that.
Rusty said…
To the 1st Anonymous reply above who has absolutely zero idea what he’s talking about. 1st off…..not sure if you’ve ever looked next to the runway in the location where the taxiway is to be built but it’s a sheer cliff. It’s a 50ft drop straight down that needs to be backfilled in for 1/2 a mile long. And at the bottom is swamp. Then a retaining wall 50+ft high needs to be built at the edge to hold what you just put in place back from collapsing. So first you need to compact the swamp & make it sturdy. Then you need to create a 1/2 mile long area of ground 50ft high out of thin air. With what? Thousands of dump trucks bringing in fill. Then you need to erect a 50ft high 1/2 mile long retaining wall to hold it all in place. Sound crazy? It is… This is not comparable to other airports such as ATL as other airports did not face this size of a challenge. This challenge is the exact reason there isn’t a taxiway there today! Because building it will cost a fortune. 2nd off…with the challenge of construction for the location as mentioned above, yes it will probably cost that much. With the MassTax (cost of simply being in Massachusetts) baked in of course. 3rd off…yes this is extraordinarily important to future service. Not having a full parallel taxiway is a huge barrier to increased service. Currently only 1 larger plan or 2 small can fit on the jug and sometimes have to wait decent lengths of time to ‘taxi-back’ down the runway just to reach the terminal. Also in low visibility conditions, a full parallel taxiway keeps aircraft off the runway unlike currently where after landing they continue to taxi on the runway. Since ORH doesn’t have ground radar in the tower, this is huge for increased safety. 3rd of all…the jug handle is small. It’s tight. When it was built, it was just enough to meet the qualifications. An A321 feels crowded on it. A 757 flat out barely fits. While the airport can handle 767’s (what Amazon uses)(yes 7,000ft is enough for them), I do not think the jug handle can support them. It’s to short. Therefore in the airports current configuration, those aircraft would get stuck at the end of 29 as they are too big to do a 180. A full parallel would fix this issue. I promise you, Arline’s want a parallel taxiway & the fact that ORH doesn’t have one is definitely a huge turn off to any current or future expansions. Even if when completed, airlines don’t instantly announce increased service, it will help day to day operations and certainly increase the likelyhood of ORH being a viable airport for future service.
Anonymous said…
When they spent $100 million + on the new landing system we were told it was needed and once it was done it would be way more attractive to airlines wanting to expand service here. Well, $100 million + later spent on the new landing system and for the most part we have mostly mediocre service at best.
Maybe they should try to focus on building up the service we have and getting a better schedule for some of the current flights before jumping the gun on spending even more $$$ up there. With the exception of the Fort Lauderdale flight they can barely even get more than 50% passenger loads on the other flights we have. Spend some of that money promoting the airport and first building upon what we already have.
Rusty said…
Currently the airport is on track to hit approx 200,000pax for 2022. The airport as a whole commercial wise (terminal/parking/gates/airport facilities) is only designed in its current form for 250,000. There really isn’t much room for growth without major construction. Everyone says they want numerous more flights. Great, that means the airport needs more parking, needs the new taxiway, probably needs a new TSA baggage area (Very familiar with ORH’s current baggage screening setup), which as I won’t go into detail for security reasons is lackluster at best & can barely handle 150 pax worth of bags for FLL at once, amongst other things. Everyone wants ORH to blow up flights wise, but without major upgrades this cannot happen without a serious drop in quality of service (take HPN for example), flights waiting for open gate, baggage screening taking too long, congested ramp, etc) As someone who is extremely familiar with day to day operations of the airport, someone who as stood INSIDE the top of the control tower & had the privilege to observe, who has close relationships with numerous employees on the field (side not no I do not work at the airport in any capacity), the taxiway is a necessity. As I mentioned several months back it’s all part of the 30 year plan for the airport otherwise known as the Master Plan. All airports have one. Logan, Providence, Orlando, JFK, etc. Every airport does a ‘Master Plan’ outlining the goals (expansion wise) of the airport. For ORH this includes completing the parallel taxiway w/ 11/29; replacing the long term lot directly in front of the terminal with a parking garage; re-configuring the Foxtrot tie downs for cargo; lengthening 15/33, a 5th jetbridge; and some smaller ancillary items. Massport’s construction of this new Taxiway is going to happen irregardless of commercial expansion,decline, whatnot. It’s just something operations wise the airport has had planned for decades now. It just so happens that building it, will also greatly benefit commercial service in the ways mentioned in my previous post.
Anonymous said…
What is the point in all this future stuff when in reality, only 1 of the 5 flights up there is successful (Fort Lauderdale)??? Let's be honest, these flights to NY have for the most part been a failure. It's a combination of Massport's refusal to seriously promote the airport and also the fact that most people who know about the flights just don't seem to be interested in them, especially in the case of Delta and American with the horrible schedules they have. When all is said and done they'll probably be in close to a billion dollars in improvements up there. I just don't see how it can be justified when 4 out of 5 flights are at 50% or less for passenger loads. I almost feel like they are targeting a business passenger with all the flights to NY when the market for business travel here is actually quite small. Targeting the leisure traveler is the way to go, it's been proven in the past that there is demand for that here.
Comparing ORH to HPN (Westchester County Airport) is a bit of a head scratcher. You mentioned all these alleged issues at HPN, but the reality is that regardless of all that, the airport is ADDING service. In fact, it must not be that much of an issue because Breeze is starting service there in just a few days from now and will have 8 destinations from HPN by February 2023. All the things you mentioned must not be all that awful there after all. ORH should be trying to build up and promote the service we already have, find new ways to build up customer base, and then looking at expansion once we have better consistent flight passenger loads that aren't 25% or 50%. We actually don't need numerous flights at ORH at the moment, what we do need are flights that appeal to travelers and what is offered up there right now just doesn't seem all that appealing.
Anonymous said…
Almost flew ORH to Las Vegas for a conference in mid Nov but my best option was ORH to FLL, layover and then to LAS. Like 10 hours in the air plus the layover time and risk of delay or cancellation (fog, plane not getting to ORH in the first place etc) and the flight is expensive
Same on the way back.
I really wanted to do it, but the less than 6 hours direct from BOS made up my mind for me.
Comments
Financially the WooSox are cashing in and we are paying for it. The ultimate bait and switch.
JetBlue ORH to JFK delayed. JFK to ORH 10:50pm canceled.
Delta LGA to ORH and ORH to LGA delayed until tomorrow.
The reports are for flights later in the day, where the chances of issues rises dramatically as a problem early somewhere cascades and spreads throughout the country as thee day goes on (e.g. a plane delayed at ATL that arrives at JFK late will be late, or canceled or crew timed out -escalating things further- and be late at the next stop).
All AA JFK flights canceled today.
All Delta LGA flights canceled today.
jetBlue FLL - 75% seat utilization
jetBlue JFK - 54% seat utilization
Delta LGA - 43% seat utilization
American JFK - 26% seat utilization
I’m wondering if the Marrican data includes flights booked on JetBlue but flown by American.
That’s happened to me twice Imwasnt paying close enough attention when booking and ended up in a super tiny seat on AA.
JFK midday flight 100-155 to 259-358. Return flight 240-340 to 459-600.
Fort Lauderdale (minor change): 1158-300 to 30 minutes earlier.
Jfk flight will be interesting because they almost overlap with Delta
"Delta adds 3 new NYC routes as it shifts regional focus from Detroit
Specifically, the airline will add:
LGA — Greater Binghamton Airport (BGM)
LGA — University Park Airport (SCE)
JFK — Ithaca Tompkins International Airport (ITH)
All three routes will be flown up to twice daily through the end of the schedule (with some weekend days only operating on a once-daily frequency)."
Link
https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-air-lines-adds-nyc-routes/
I found it kind of foolish that there was a "celebration" for the 1 millionth passenger up there today. I'm sure American Airlines isn't celebrating their 25% passenger loads, or Delta their 45% loads or JetBlue their 50% loads to NY. The optics of it all just look bad. They clearly have money to put on a celebration to give all the politicians their photo ops. I'd like to know how many of those politicians actually use Worcester Airport on a regular basis. Maybe they should have kept the celebration a little more low key and put some of that money into promoting the airport a bit more and pushing for a better schedule. If they had promoted the airport a bit more they would have been well over a million passengers by now.
Watched WCVB. (Channel 5) when they did their interview w everyone and talked about it, not once did I hear an expansion of service or anything like new airlines coming in, trying to get more flights, etc. As we know in the past, they could really not be trying but who knows hopefully I’m wrong in thinking that.
Maybe they should try to focus on building up the service we have and getting a better schedule for some of the current flights before jumping the gun on spending even more $$$ up there. With the exception of the Fort Lauderdale flight they can barely even get more than 50% passenger loads on the other flights we have. Spend some of that money promoting the airport and first building upon what we already have.
Comparing ORH to HPN (Westchester County Airport) is a bit of a head scratcher. You mentioned all these alleged issues at HPN, but the reality is that regardless of all that, the airport is ADDING service. In fact, it must not be that much of an issue because Breeze is starting service there in just a few days from now and will have 8 destinations from HPN by February 2023. All the things you mentioned must not be all that awful there after all. ORH should be trying to build up and promote the service we already have, find new ways to build up customer base, and then looking at expansion once we have better consistent flight passenger loads that aren't 25% or 50%. We actually don't need numerous flights at ORH at the moment, what we do need are flights that appeal to travelers and what is offered up there right now just doesn't seem all that appealing.
Like 10 hours in the air plus the layover time and risk of delay or cancellation (fog, plane not getting to ORH in the first place etc) and the flight is expensive
Same on the way back.
I really wanted to do it, but the less than 6 hours direct from BOS made up my mind for me.