Bill Randell’s FlyORH: What Worcester’s Airport Needs Right Now

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Bill Randell, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Bill Randell puts airline myths to rest so that passengers have the best possible flying experiences.

Over the past few months, I have gotten a lot of feedback.

We need other destinations; for example, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, Florida Gulf Coast destinations and New York City.
Tickets are lower out of Boston.
Direct Air had better prices.

First, starting November 7, 2013 daily service begins to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale with JetBlue. If we can make these two routes successful, I am sure all of these other destinations will look into ORH.

Second, there are reasons why Boston tickets are less.

Boston has eight direct flights to Orlando and six direct flights to Fort Lauderdale per day, not to mention numerous other flights with connections. Worcester has one.
Boston has the larger Airbus A320 (150 seats), versus the Embraer E-190 (100 seats), which has lower operating costs per seat.
JetBlue has no competition in Worcester.

Travels costs, however, are a lot more then just ticket prices. You need to consider the traffic, time, tolls, gas, and parking fees in Boston compared to Worcester, not to mention convenience. In our case even with slightly higher ticket prices, we will fly out of ORH.

Third, Direct Air was never an airline or a business for that matter. It was a ponzi scheme. Tickets were not priced to pay bills, salaries, etc. Ticket prices were just a means to steal money, not pay anyone, and then eventually leave town with as much money as possible. Ask yourself this, how good were the prices to those people who are 1) still holding unclaimed Family Tie vouchers or 2) were stranded in airports when Direct Air turned the lights off.

My point today is that we finally have the right owner, MassPort, and a great airline, but this is just a starting point. If we support these two routes and make them profitable for JetBlue, we will get more destinations and lower ticket prices. The ball is now in our court, no more excuses. Book your trip with JetBlue out of Worcester today.

Bill Randell is the President of Advantage Benefits, an insurance brokerage house specializing in employee benefits with an emphasis on health insurance, based in Worcester since 1992. He can be contacted at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter (@FlyORH).