Jets Arrive 6 Years Early

Wide-body jet service has come to T.F. Green Airport, in Providence (RI), six years before planners expected. The debut of scheduled 767 service could fuel the growing debate over airport expansion. The Airport Corporation's board of directors is expected to vote this month or next on whether to ask the FAA for authority to extend the main runway. A longer runway could bring more wide-body jets and people to the airport. Business interests welcome both prospects, but opponents fear congestion and never-ending expansion. Delta used the wide-body plane for five days last month as a test and reported strong demand.

Mark Brewer, acting executive director of the Airport Corporation, said Delta switched back to a 182-seat 757 last week, when demand dropped, but expects to bring in the bigger plane again. "The next time will be over spring break, when college students go on vacation," he said. "It's going to be a recurring theme, whenever demand is high enough.

Boeing 767s have flown out of Green before, on occasional charter flights, or when smaller jets had to be taken out of service for unforeseen repairs. But the recent five-day tryout on flights to Atlanta marked the first time an airline had offered scheduled wide-body jet service in Rhode Island. The wide-body jets are much larger than the typical 737 based at Green. Though bigger and heavier, 767s are also quieter than many 737s.

The gates in the Bruce Sundlun Terminal were designed for jets no larger than the Boeing 757, which United introduced to Green in 1998. Brewer said Delta had to reconfigure the last gate in the south concourse to accommodate the 767 from Atlanta. The alterations would not have been possible at a gate that had neighboring gates on each side, he said. The airport master plan calls for expanding the terminal and building 18 new gates by 2020, for a total of 40.

James Hagan, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, thinks wide-body jet service" ... makes a case for a longer runway. It's a quieter aircraft, and one plane could take the place of two planes, so you'd have less traffic, still accommodate the same number of people, and it would have the same economic impact." But Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, who opposes a longer runway, complained the use of the larger plane should have been discussed with city officials.

"Getting quieter planes is always a goal; however to go to such a large plane ... without any discussion really shows you that the Airport Corporation ... doesn't want to work with us," he said. "To find out after the fact is just inappropriate."

FMI: www.pvdairport.com