NEW: Worcester’s Mayor Reaches Out to Direct Air for Answers

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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Worcester's Mayor Joseph Petty has put calls into executives at Direct Air after learning several flights were canceled yesterday without explanation. This has lead to speculation that Worcester's only commercial airline, Direct Air may be in trouble. Michael Lanava, the Mayor's spokesman, said, they are trying to get more information from the airline at this point.

Massport, the state agency that runs Worcester's airport, has been in contact with Direct Air, but Massport's spokesman said they are not saying anything publicly at this time and has urged members of the press to contact the airline directly for answers. Efforts to reach DirectAir representatives were unsuccessful.

Andy Davis, Worcester Regional Airport Director said, "We did not have any cancellations over the weekend and we do not have any flights scheduled until Thursday."

GoLocalWorcester has also reached out to Congressman Jim McGovern's office for comment.

The cancelled flights from Monday were scheduled to depart from Niagara Falls en route to airports in Florida and Myrtle Beach, according to the company's website. 

On Twitter, one angry passenger, wrote, "#Directair, cancelled all flights at Niagara Falls, half hour before flight time, left everyone stranded. Don't ever use them." GoLocal reached out to @ddalessandro to find out what happened. He said, "We never boarded. Couple 100 people heading to various destinations in Florida told no-go with no explanation. Still none."

The three cancelled flights included Flight 5815 headed to Fort Myers/Punta Gorda which was set to depart at 6:15 p.m., flight 2817 which was set to depart for Myrtle Beach at 8:30 p.m and flight 4489 which was set to depart for West Palm Beach at 6:45 p.m.

The discount airline launched its service from Worcester a few years ago. DirectAir operates at about a dozen airports. As of Tuesday morning, Niagara Falls Airport is reporting the next outbound flights on DirectAir as on time.

Travelers can check Twitter.com and follow #directair for reaction from affected customers. 

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