If the mayors of Braintree, Weymouth and Quincy collaborated on regionalizing for the collection of solid waste and recyclable materials, why can't Governor Patrick regionalize Otis?

Otis AFB makes sense because it abuts Bourne, Sandwich, Falmouth, Mashpee, and is a ten-minute drive from Barnstable and parts of Yarmouth.

Otis has 7,000 foot runways, the state is struggling to make a go of the place as a National Guard base, and the Coast Guard contemplates moving.

Doc Mosby wants to spend $60 million to expand Barnstable Airport terminal and lengthen a runway to handle large turbo props before the airport drops dead.

Why not a regional Cape Cod Airport at Otis likes the one at Hanscom?

Unlike the Hyannis airport where the driving time to Falmouth takes longer than the drive from Boston or Providence, Otis, located on 35,000 acres. would attract people visiting Marthas Vineyard, Woods Hole, and Pocasset.

Barnstable Airport's 100 acres could could become host to Microsoft’s expansion plan to move away from Redmond, Washington to Massachusetts.

The only one way that small cities like Barnstable in these days of upward spiraling fuel cost can sustain airports is to fly small airplanes which the flying public is willing to pay exorbitant prices.

By the looks of business at the Barnstable Airport this summer, airline passengers could be next on the endangered species list as these June, 2008 Barnstable Airport photos attest.

   

There's a better chance of seeing a bald eagle than there is a passenger this summer at Barnstable Airport.

How about it Governor Patrick?

Merge em or lose em both.

Yesterday's headlines;

American could cut 900 flight attendant jobs

By DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writer

DALLAS - American Airlines says it could cut 900 flight attendant jobs as it reduces flights to cope with record high fuel costs.

The Fort Worth-based airline expects to reduce jobs for pilots and mechanics too, but it hasn't released numbers yet.

American, the nation's largest carrier, said Wednesday that job cuts were necessary "to overcome near-term challenges and secure our company's long-term future."

In May, American announced it would cut capacity 11 percent to 12 percent later this year, retire some planes and cut an unspecified number of jobs.

American and sister airline American Eagle expects to spend more than $10 billion on jet fuel this year, up from $6.7 billion last year.

American is the latest airline to put a number on possible job cuts and reduced flying due to rising fuel costs and widening losses.

Continental Airlines Inc. is cutting 3,000 jobs and grounding 67 jets, and offered voluntary-departure packages — but no cash — to employees with at least 10 years experience.

UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, the nation's second-largest carrier, plans to eliminate 950 pilot jobs and 1,600 salaried positions.

Delta Air Lines Inc. is shedding 4,000 jobs,

and US Airways Group Inc. is cutting 1,700.

In the news last week;

Three cities lose airline service after subsidy cuts

By David Dishneau, Associated Press Writer

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Hagerstown Regional Airport is finishing up a $62 million runway project. Now all it needs is an airline.

The western Maryland city of 39,000, along with Lancaster, Pa., and Brookings, S.D., lost scheduled commercial air service recently because the federal Transportation Department deemed them ineligible for continued subsidies under the Essential Air Service program. The reason: They are too close to bigger airports.

Airlines are also raising fares and imposing new and higher fees for checking luggage, hauling a pet or sitting in a choice aisle seat.

Still, the industry's trade group, the Air Transport Association, predicts that U.S. airlines could lose $13 billion this year.

Shares of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. fell 22 cents or 4.5 percent, to $4.63 in afternoon trading, as oil prices rose past $143 per barrel. The shares are trading at their lowest mark since early 2003, when the company was threatening to file for bankruptcy.

Earlier this decade, city officials in Hagerstown, Md., started making the case to build a longer runway at their airport to lure service by regional jets, instead of the turboprop planes that provided its only flights.

Several years and $61.4 million later, the city opened its concrete welcome mat, a new 7,000 foot runway, two months after the airport lost scheduled air service altogether.

Despite its costly investment, a dogged marketing effort by local officials and even help from Congress, the airport has had no luck attracting a new carrier, as the industry struggles under soaring fuel prices.

“Could we pick a worse time to go out and get commercial service? Probably not,” said Carolyn Motz, director of the Hagerstown Regional Airport, which had 10 daily flights a decade ago.

The airports have grown quiet in many other communities, too.

Financially strapped airlines are cutting service, and nearly 30 cities across the United States have seen their scheduled service disappear in the last year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Others include Wilmington, Del.; Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; and Boulder City, Nev.

Over the same period, more than 400 airports, in cities large and small, have seen flight cuts. Over all, the number of scheduled flights in the United States dropped 3 percent in May, or 22,900 fewer flights than in May 2007, according to the Official Airline Guide.

And the service cuts are far from over, as jet fuel prices rise, airlines shut down and companies consider mergers, like the Delta-Northwest deal.

For American travelers, the shift means that they can no longer bank on scheduling flights to reach their destination within a single day, said Robert W. Mann Jr., an industry consultant in Port Washington, N.Y.

“Everybody expects frequent, convenient, high-quality service with great connectivity to the rest of the world,” Mr. Mann said. But given the steep rise in fuel prices, which are up 84.5 percent from a year ago, airlines, have to make difficult choices on service.

Fewer passengers are expected to fly this summer, traditionally the peak season for air travel — partly because of the soft economy, of course, but the difficulty of traveling may also be a factor.

The Air Transport Association, an industry trade group, predicts 211.5 million people will fly between June 1 and Aug. 31, down more than 2 million passengers from last year’s 213.5 million.

Flights seem to be disappearing by the day.

Last week, Mesa Air Lines, a regional carrier based in Phoenix, said it would shut down Air Midwest, a regional subsidiary, on June 30. The move will eliminate service to 16 small cities in the 10 remaining states where Air Midwest, which had already cut flights, still operated.

Eliminating flights is the latest move by the airlines in a cost-cutting drive that also has led to ticket prices climbing 10 times this year and new fees, from charges for checking extra bags to changing itineraries.

Almost every major carrier, from American Airlines to Delta Air Lines and US Airways, is crossing cities off its list, leaving passengers with fewer choices than a year ago.

Some travelers have no choices, but it is not for lack of trying by city and state officials. After Hagerstown briefly lost its eligibility for a government program called the Essential Air Service last year, Maryland’s Congressional delegation helped win an extension that allowed Hagerstown, as well as Lancaster, Pa., and Brookings, S.D., to remain in the program until Sept. 30.

The Essential Air Service program was created in 1978, when the airline industry was deregulated, to ensure that communities in rural and remote areas would be linked to the nation’s air system.

Under the program, the government provides subsidies of about $100 million a year to the airlines, resulting in service to 102 communities.

But the subsidies have not risen fast enough to cover the jump in jet fuel costs, and passengers have resisted paying higher prices for plane tickets, prompting carriers to pull out of a number of cities, including Hagerstown.

Now, some lawmakers are pushing for more money for the air service program as part of a broader funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration that is before the Senate. The House passed the measure last year.

Even with the longer runway, and the federal subsidy, Hagerstown has not been able to persuade another carrier to take the place of Air Midwest, which discontinued its two daily flights to Pittsburgh last fall.

Ms. Motz says that is now unlikely to happen before the extension expires, given the time an airline needs to start new service. “With airlines going out of business and capacity being reduced, it is very difficult,” she said.

Lacking flights, Hagerstown residents must drive an hour and a half to Baltimore-Washington International Airport, or face even longer trips to Washington’s two airports.

Without passenger service, the airport’s revenue comes primarily from military and private aviation.

“We would love to have service here, especially since there have been millions of dollars in improvements,” said Lewis Metzner, a city council member.

Plattsburgh, N.Y., is also hoping to get more flights. And it has more than just a longer runway — it has a brand new airport, built on a former air force base.

The airport offers three flights a day on a nine-seat Cessna to Boston, via Cape Air, as well as three flights a week to South Carolina on Myrtle Beach DirectAir and four weekly flights to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando on Allegiant, a low-fare carrier.

Plattsburgh had a daily flight to Albany under CommutAir, a commuter carrier linked to Continental Airlines that operated 19-seat aircraft. But CommutAir discontinued service to Plattsburgh last year, before the airport moved to its new location.

Now, the town’s only current connection to a major airline is through Cape Air, which has partnership arrangements with Continental and JetBlue.

Cape Air service is provided under an Essential Air Service contract that gives Cape Air with a subsidy of $650 a flight, or about $73 a passenger for a trip that costs $94 one-way, said Christopher D. Kreig, the airport’s manager.

But the subsidies have not ensured stability. Cape Air is the third airline in a year to hold the contract. After CommutAir pulled out, Big Sky Airlines served Plattsburgh for just seven weeks, leaving in January, when the airline dropped service to East Coast airports.

However, Myrtle Beach and Allegiant came in without government assistance, attracted in part by the airport’s proximity to Canada, which Plattsburgh emphasizes in its marketing campaign.

Governor Patrick isn't stupid.

So why did his pal Bernie Cohen give Doc Mosby $1.7 million the other day to design an airport terminal for an airport where the prognosis is terminal?

It gets worse.

Bernie Cohen and his former Executive Director at MAC promised Doc Mosby $20 million of the state's money as his share of building the stupid thing,

and John Klimm and Janet Joakim said they are willing to underwrite $6 million of Barnstable taxpayer's money as the town's share of building the new terminal.

Meanwhile Mosby plans to spend another $20 million of someone else's money to extend a runway to handle the large turbo props the airlines are pulling back from other airports to come to Hyannis where they have to buy $6.05 per gallon jet fuel from Mosby.

The YouTube video is living proof that P.T. Barnum's wisdom is still applicable when it comes to the Barnstable Town Council...

Comments

To the person who asked where John Julius is;

Julius just got back from a week in Bermuda.

Julius sold a record number of houses this year, and the trip was a prize and a bonus.

The good news is that most of the homes he sold were in the "affordable" range.

As housing prices keep falling, John keeps selling.

He is so busy he doesn't have the time for political altruism.

He'll be back as soon as he catches his breath.

[WTF]

Just one question: How many kids could attend all day kindergarten in Barnstable with 1.7 million dollars?

[Gary Lopez]

Let me put it this way.

There are 308 kids enrolled in kindergarten in the Barnstable School District, and 1,653 enrolled in grades K – 4, or an average of 331 per grade.

The Centerville Elementary School budget is $2,324,658 to educate 276 kids, or $8,423 per student and the school budget includes half-day kindergarten.

Since the costs to operate each of the town’s elementary schools is amortized over the total enrollment attending all-day classes (Grades 1 – 4) in the $8,423 per-student cost, the only additional expense incurred by all-day kindergarten should be teacher salaries.

But, for the sake of argument, assume the extra-half day cost is 50% of the average per-student cost, $4,212 X 308, the total cost of all-day kindergarten would be $1,263,401 leaving $400,000 to fund school busing ($220,000), and $180,000 to hire 5 full-time music teachers

($1,263,401 + $220,000 + $180,000 = $1,663,491)

Remember that the school committee arrived at a conclusion to charge parents $2,800 to attend all-day kindergarten, or virtually half the $4,212 per student I allowed in my opine.

If the school committee charge is more accurate than my guestimations, there'd be an additional $500,000 remaining from the $1.7 million that could be used to fund sports, and extra-curricula activities.

The Barnstable School District only generates $220,000 in parent-paid bus fees each year.

Thanks Gary for submitting your comments regarding Question for Governor Deval Patrick for Braude program today to 96.9 FM TALK. We will review your comments and address them as soon as possible.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with Governor Patrick.

The Governor values your opinions and enjoys hearing from people across the Commonwealth.

Please know that your views are always welcome in this
administration.

If you need an immediate response, please call the Governor’s Office at 617-725-4005 to speak with a Constituent Services Aide.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your ideas with Governor Patrick.

Stay involved and engaged...this is your government!

[there's no global warming in the Joakim bedroom.]

Gary - No more post about the airport. The jet fuel issue is a moot point. We're moving to alternative forms of natural energy anyway. President Janet Joakim has enough gas to keep the entire airline industry afloat and the Air Force too!

[Can I go live with the lemmings?]

Gary - for more on the embattled obnoxious Barnstable Town Council President Janet Swain Joakim review www.barnstablesafetynetwork.com and be prepared to laugh!

I love having an imbecile as my official leader! She's such as gas!