Airports in the Crisis

Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis is one busy man!   In addition to running the jail and a number of recovery and crime / addiction prevention programs around Worcester County, Sheriff Evangelidis is also Massport Board Chair.  In that capacity, Evangelidis and the Board oversee both Worcester and Logan airports, and the Port of Boston.

The coronavirus crisis has dramatically affected the operations at all the Massport facilities. A

“At Worcester Airport, we’ve seen a 75% decrease in passenger counts, and that number is trending downward.” Evangelidis states. “As of the moment, the New York flights are still leaving in the morning, and returning in the evenings.”  Flights to Florida are now running on alternate days, and flights to other destinations are not running as regularly.

“Some flights have been cancelled because no passengers purchase tickets.” Evangelidis continues. “This is consistent with the trends at airports around the United States, especially the smaller airports.”

“But we’ve made a 100 million dollar investment in Worcester Airport, and we’re going to see this through!” Evangelidis states.  “We’ve been through downturns before, such as after the 9-11 attacks, and we will rebound again.”   The Massport Board and staff are preparing strategic plans based on 3 possible alternatives affecting all the Massport operations. One alternative is a rapid decline in passenger and freight which also translates to revenue, followed by a rapid incline. The next is a rapid decline followed by a slower, perhaps year-long incline. The other alternative strategic plan is based on a rapid decline followed by a very slow, perhaps 5 year, rebound. 

Logan Airport has seen a similar 75% decrease in passenger loads, and that continues to trend downward. “We’d anticipated going from about 37 million passengers to about 43 million in 2020, Evangelidis says. “Clearly, those numbers won’t be approached.”

“We’ve invested 100’s of millions of dollars into the airports and the Post of Boston” Evangelidis continues. “The Port and the airports involve hundreds of jobs, the delivery of produce and products, and a number of construction projects, a lot of moving parts that benefit all of Central and Eastern Massachusetts, in fact the entire state.” Massport’s investments have generated growth in cruise lines that sail to and from Boston, as well as freight ships that bring products to the port, and leave with freight.

While there was no way to anticipate the coronavirus plague, Evangelidis and the Massport Board and leadership are doing what they can to plan for a return to the success the Port of Boston, Logan, and Worcester airports were experiencing.  As Evangelidis said, we all just have to see it through. 

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