Cape Air begins flying from Rutland to Boston
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By Bruce Edwards Herald Staff - Published: November 2, 2007
NORTH CLARENDON — The Rutland Southern Vermont Regional Airport may have set a record for the number of people who crammed the second floor of the terminal building Thursday afternoon.
It's the kind of numbers officials hope portend success for Cape Air — the region's new commuter airline.
There was optimism and congratulations all around as the standing-room-only crowd of business people, government officials and lawmakers welcomed Cape Air as it officially began its Rutland-to-Boston service.
In a room decked out with blue and white balloons, Gov. James Douglas welcomed Cape Air and its president, Dan Wolf, noting that local air passenger service remains an important transportation component.
"We were uncertain about the future of air service to the Rutland region until Cape Air came along," Douglas said. "It's so important to the economic success of this part of our state to have that regular service available."
He also noted Cape Air is offering the lowest fares to Boston in 20 years.
Low fares and Cape Air's partnership with JetBlue (www.jetblue.com) were two of the reasons Rutland selected the Hyannis, Mass.-based airline to replace CommutAir, which announced earlier this year it was pulling out of Rutland.
Cape Air's (www.flycapeair.com) roundtrip fare to Boston with a 14-day advance reservation is $95. It also has more flights — three roundtrips a day or 21 flights a week — compared to CommutAir's 14 flights.
"The price is about half to a third, depending on when you make your reservation, of the previous airline," said Thomas Donahue, executive vice president of the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce.
Also of importance Donahue said, was Cape Air agreeing to keep a plane overnight in Rutland, ready for the first early morning flight the next day.
Air travelers flying out of Rutland and connecting on JetBlue will soon be able to book their flights on JetBlue's Web site or call JetBlue. Since Cape Air and JetBlue occupy the same terminal at Logan International Airport, starting Thursday passengers connecting on JetBlue don't have to go through security a second time or recheck their bags.
The 20-year-old airline operates a fleet of nine-passenger Cessna 402s that fly between Boston, Hyannis, Nantucket, Provincetown and Martha's Vineyard. Cape Air also has routes in Florida, the Caribbean and Micronesia in the Pacific.
For those who may think Cape Air is too small to serve Rutland, Mayor Christopher Louras had this observation: "Be advised, Cape Air moves as many, if not more people, in one year as populate the state of Vermont."
Cape Air flew more than 650,000 passengers last year while the U.S. Census Bureau puts Vermont's population at 624,000.
In his remarks, Cape Air president Wolf said the Rutland market fits with the airline's criteria of serving beautiful destinations populated with friendly and interesting people.
"This area way jumped over that bar," he said.
Wolf said the employee-owned airline is "committed to building a long-standing, successful, positive relationship with the communities that we serve."
In a question-and-answer session, Wolf said he expects JetBlue to very shortly add Rutland to its Web site. He also made a plea to local and state officials to improve the airport's landing capabilities by upgrading to an instrument approach system. Wolf went so far as to offer some financial assistance to make that happen.
Airport manager Tom Trudeau said funding for the instrument approach is in the federal budget. If it survives a budget fight, Trudeau said the approach could be installed next year.
Cape Air follows in the footsteps of CommutAir and Colgan Air. Both used 19-passenger aircraft. But even with a federal subsidy, both struggled to make a success of the Rutland market.
Cape Air is receiving a subsidy of $839,746 a year for two years under the federal Essential Air Service program. The program supports air passenger service at the nation's rural airports.
In a later interview, Wolf said the goal is to be off the subsidy after two years. For that to happen, a Cape Air official said the airline would need to attract 7,500 passengers a year to break even. That's about half the passengers CommutAir said it needed to break even on its Rutland-Boston service.
Trudeau and others, including Louras, believe Cape Air with its nine-passenger Cessnas is the right fit for Rutland.
"The folks in the community, when they made the selection, they're believing smaller is going to be better," Trudeau said in an interview Thursday. "The tradeoff is really in more frequency and pricing."
Jay Hathaway of the Manchester and the Mountains Chamber of Commerce said Cape Air's operation is more economical and its aircraft easier to fill than the 19-passenger planes operated by its predecessors.
Hathaway also noted that Cape Air is the Manchester area's sole mass transportation link.
"Understand, Manchester doesn't have a bus, it doesn't have a train but now it has an airplane," he said.
For Dorset Town Manager Peter Webster, there's no question the price and schedule are right.
"I've got a daughter who just started working in Boston … and she can't wait to be able to fly home for 95 bucks (roundtrip)," Webster said.
Departing flights leave Rutland daily at 6:25 a.m., 11:40 a.m., and 4:30 p.m. Return flights depart Boston at 10:10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 6 p.m.
Contact Bruce Edwards at bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com.
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