Flying Low in New England

An airline whose motto might be "Destination Doubtful"

I rushed to Boston airport to get the 4 p.m. Air New England flight to Martha's Vineyard, a 70-mile, 35-minute trip. But then there was a delay: no equipment. Finally, at about 6 p.m., we got on a plane and joined a long line of other flights waiting to take off. Just as we reached the head of the line, the pilot said he had to refuel. At last, at around 7 p.m., we departed. But later, in midcourse, we veered left toward the Vineyard's neighboring island of Nantucket. Apparently our flight number was switched with that of the flight to Nantucket. So we landed there, stayed on the ground for a while, and then once again headed for the Vineyard. It was really wild.

That tale of travel woe is told by Author Vance Packard, one of the many cultural and corporate heavyweights on the New York-Boston axis who have vacation homes on the Vineyard or Nantucket. What they also have in common is a feeling of strained camaraderie and a fund of furiously exasperating stories about Air New England, which links 14 New England stops with Boston and New York City. Says New York Times Columnist Russell Baker, a Nantucket man: "It's an eerie operation. I resign myself to disaster every time I book with them." CBS Anchorman Walter Cronkite, who has a house on the Vineyard, adds with wry understatement that just about everyone who flies Air New England "has the experience that schedules are not kept very closely."

Once a profitable puddlejumper, Air New England expanded rapidly after it won certification in 1975 from the Civil Aeronautics Board. Perhaps too rapidly. It now struggles to maintain a schedule of 200 flights a day with scant working capital and a modest fleet of 20 propjet planes, which include its own 19-seat De Havilland Twin Otters and 48-passenger Fairchild 227s and two leased 50-seat Convair 580s. Seldom are there planes available for back-up use. So even though Air New England is classified in the same category as national carriers like Eastern and United, it continues to operate in much the same manner as the "commuter" airlines. These are what the industry bluntly describes as its "problem" segment: the more than 200 small, often haphazardly managed, short-hop outfits that have mushroomed since the Government began deregulating air travel.

A recent CAB study of Air New England found the company's finances and cash flow to be "precarious." Founded in 1970 and controlled by Investors Fairleigh Dickinson Jr. and Robert Kanzler, the Boston-based airline carries some 500,000 passengers annually. It operates at a loss for most of the year but gambles on cashing in during the summer, when traffic triples. Despite federal subsidies of $3.7 million, it lost $2 million on revenues of $21 million in 1978, and does not expect to do much better this year.

The airline has a good safety record, but passengers' beefs range from cavalier treatment by some of the company's 650 employees--augmented in the peak season by 100 often inexperienced summer employees--to the quirky booking system. Reservations made through other airlines often are not entered in Air New England's computers. Many passengers complain that even if they book directly with Air New England, their reservations are lost or simply not honored. Because so many flights are sold out in advance, or just canceled (even in good weather), travelers routinely reserve seats on several flights. One result: overbooking, at least on the large Fairchilds, averages 25%. In fact, Air New England's booking problems have risen to the point where the CAB is now investigating its reservation procedures.

The airline cannot be blamed for the fog that frequently socks in Nantucket and the Vineyard. But when weather trouble seems likely, passengers are given little cards bearing a macabre and somewhat existential warning: DESTINATION DOUBTFUL. This relieves the airline of any obligation to put people up in a hotel in case, say, a New York-to-Nantucket flight must be diverted to Boston. Columnist Baker recalls one too typical experience. Before buying his ticket in New York City, he asked if there would be a problem with fog at Nantucket. As Baker tells it, "The clerk said no, Nantucket was fine, so I went. Of course, it was so fogged in that the pilot couldn't even find the island. We wound up in Boston, where I had to spend the night at a hotel. It seems that the airline just wasn't going to give up those fares."

Air New England's planes may make as many as 18 departures a day. Result: even if the weather is benign and the engines work fine, the routine delays of ten or 15 minutes that occur at each stop can make a plane one or even two hours late by day's end. Many travelers consider it no small victory if they and their luggage arrive at the same destination at the same time. In some cases, when a plane is fully loaded, the airline may simply keep the bags at the airport and send them out on the next flight. In a lounge at Boston's Logan Airport, a Styrofoam AIR NEW ENGLAND sign bears several dents the size of a man's fist.

Air New England President Charles F. Butler, a former CAB official, ruefully concedes that his customers have had a rough time this year. Says he: "We did a hell of a job on the traveling public this summer. We made a shambles of things." The usual problems were aggravated by squabbles with the unions. In June the pilots staged a slowdown to express their ire over the pace of negotiations for a new contract; more than 500 flights were delayed that month; and 15% were canceled. In July more than 800 out of 6,300 flights were either late or scrubbed because of bad weather and air traffic control delays. Then, in August, the peak month, the mechanics carried out a three-week job action. More than 500 flights were dropped, causing a loss of 15,000 passengers and more than $500,000 in revenue.

Air New England officials argue that the company must achieve the financial strength it needs to improve service by growing bigger. The CAB has granted it authority to expand its route to Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, among other cities. To do this, the company figures it will have to raise $20 million to replace some of its short-haul planes with more modern jets. But President Butler admits that he has little chance of finding the cash "until we demonstrate more stability." Says he: "You have to learn to walk before you can run." Much less fly, as many an Air New England passenger would quickly add. .

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