Company will provide services for planes

By Davis Bushnell
Boston Globe Correspondent
June 12, 2005

Banking on increased corporate aviation activity at Hanscom Field in Bedford, a fledgling Woburn company, Crosspoint Aviation Services LLC, plans to open a 60,000-square-foot facility at the airfield in spring 2007.

The Massachusetts Port Authority, the airport's owner-operator, recently selected Crosspoint to join two other so-called fixed-base operators, Signature Flight Support and Jet Aviation.

These operators provide a range of services, including fuel sales, hangar rentals, and aircraft maintenance, to a host of customers, many of them corporations and charter operators.

Jet operations at the airfield are on the upswing, largely due to frequent takeoffs and landings by corporate and charter craft. Last year, there were 33,061 flights, an 8.9 percent increase over 2003. Among regular users of the airport are companies like Raytheon Co., Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., and EMC Corp.

The continuing rise in the number of corporate flights sparked Crosspoint's interest, according to its director of aviation services, Tim Sullivan. ''We believe the strong business activity [at Hanscom Field] will rise at a moderate pace for the foreseeable future."

Local activists say they continue to be alarmed by the noise of jet activity and that any new venture such as Crosspoint's only exacerbates the situation.

''Massport is determined to ruin this historic area with unlimited jet noise," said Anna Winter, executive director of Save Our Heritage, a historic preservation group based in Concord. ''This is not our vision or that of Governor [Mitt] Romney, who, during his election campaign, called for no additional growth at the Hanscom civilian airport.

''We are working at the state and federal levels to finally secure appropriate limits on this facility to stop Massport's incremental destruction of Minute Man Park, Walden, and other American icons," she said.

But Massport's chief executive, Craig Coy, has a different vision for Hanscom Field.

''Aircraft manufacturers have reported higher sales activity for the past few years," Coy stated in a release. ''In an effort to address this growing need and to maintain Hanscom's position as a critical transportation hub to the business community, this development [the selection of Crosspoint] is a significant investment in the industry."

At its next meeting on June 21, the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission will ask Massport officials to outline Crosspoint's plans, said Anne Shapiro of Concord, the commission's chairwoman. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Concord Town House. The advisory commission consists of representatives of nearby towns, aviation-related interests, citizens groups, and the National Park Service.

Crosspoint, formed last year as a subsidiary of Eastern Development LLC, also of Woburn, is just getting started in the aviation services business. It made its debut, Sullivan said, by acquiring a private airfield, Coral Creek Airport, in the resort community of Boca Grande, Fla.

The company now has a list of potential corporate and private clients for its Hanscom Field operation, he said, adding that there are likely to be 30 employees.