Ground 'broken' for upgraded $30 million Worcester airport landing system

State and local officials put their shovels to the tile floor inside the terminal at Worcester Regional Airport for a ceremonial groundbreaking on Friday. The event was originally planned for the tarmac outside, but threatening rain gave organizers pause. The ceremony marked the beginning of construction for the airport's new $30 million Category III landing system upgrade. T&G Staff/Paul Kapteyn

WORCESTER - There was a touch of irony Friday at a "groundbreaking" at Worcester Regional Airport.

Rain forced local officials to hold the groundbreaking for the new CAT III landing system inside the terminal, aiming their golden shovels at the floor. The $30 million landing system, which is scheduled to be completed in 2017, will allow planes to land, even in bad weather. Heavy fog at the airport regularly causes delays and occasional cancellations, of flights.

City Manager Edward Augustus hopes that a new landing system will take Worcester Regional Airport to the next level, attracting more flights for people traveling in and out of the city on business.

At a groundbreaking for the $30 million upgrade Friday, Mr. Augustus said the improvements could expand the number of flights leaving from the airport. He said the airport's current offerings: Two Jet Blue flights per day to Florida, are more for passengers heading to vacation spots. The challenges posed at the airport by fog, which sometimes delays or even cancels flights, are not as much of a problem for vacationers as they would be for people traveling on business.

"The two destinations we have now are great, but they are mainly for leisure," he said. "If you are a business traveler, you've got to have a good, reliable service."

The upgrade of the airport's landing system from Category I to Category III will significantly improve that situation.

"It's a really important tool in getting additional airlines and additional service to the business destinations," Mr. Augustus said.

Under a Category I system, airplanes need a half-mile visibility, or in certain circumstances, 1,800 feet, in order to land or take off, according to Todd Freidenberg, New England executive manager for the Federal Aviation Administration. Worcester Regional Airport has regular problems with reduced visibility, making it impossible at times for flights to land. With the new Category III system, the visibility limit would be reduced to less than 600 feet. Many of Worcester's competitors, Logan Airport in Boston, as well as airports in Providence, R.I. and Manchester, N.H., have Category III landing systems.

U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, was one of the participants. He hailed the upgrade of the airport facilities, calling it a big deal for the city and then enthusiastically overstated the ability of the system.

"Not withstanding the fact that the landings have been really good, this makes it incredibly better," he said. "You can land here in a cyclone with the Category III gear."

Mr. Freidenberg, of the FAA, said planes might not be able to land in a cyclone, but it will be much better than before.

"This will allow more airplanes to come and go in worse weather," he said.

The project has been two years in the making, but with equipment from J.H. Lynch and Sons of Millbury already working on both ends of the runway, completion is projected to be sometime in December 2017.

Tom Glynn, CEO of Massport, highlighted how long Worcester Regional Airport has been talking about the need for state-of-the-art equipment. He said Andrew Davis, director of the airport for Massport, provided him with an article that ran in the Worcester Telegram in 1941 announcing a decision to locate the airport in Worcester, at the Battery B site on the Worcester-Leicester line, rather than in North Grafton. He said the reason given was that the approaches and runways would result in a better facility and lower costs.

Reading from the article, Mr. Glynn added, "They believe Battery B's disadvantage in lower ceiling will be overcome by improved instruments for blind flying and landing."

Seventy-five years later, Mr. Glynn said, that prediction will finally become reality.

Mr. McGovern said discussions are ongoing with other airlines that might consider flying into Worcester, but the upgrade is needed before that can happen.

"For the airport to grow in the way we want to grow, this is essential," he said. "Reliability is a big part of helping this airport to grow. There are a lot of airports across the country that want this technology."

Mr. McGovern said JetBlue's record in Worcester has been outstanding, but the city would like to see more business travel opportunities.

"We want more business travel, and we want more people to come here for business," he said.

Along with better communications equipment to allow for better instrumentation landing, the project will include a new access road for the construction project and taxiway and lighting changes