Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal | October 12, 2020 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M AS S I N B R I E F JetBlue uncertain of return of Worcester flights V E R BAT I M COVID lessons "This financial support for the Worcester Art Museum benefits all corners of our community by helping us transform lives with enriching programming." Matthias Waschek, Worcester Art Museum's Jean and Myles McDonough director, discussing nearly $300,000 in grants awarded to the museum, including $250,000 which will be earmarked for installing the Higgins Armory collection Unemployment fraud "It's important that every dollar spent goes to someone who actually needs it, and not to people trying to cheat the system." Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, discussing charges against two Mass. residents charged with unemploy- ment fraud, including one from Brookfield Easing into college "Preparing students for the rigors of college-level courses while they are still in high school eases the transition to college and makes it more likely that they will succeed." Framingham State University President Javier Cevallos, addressing a $40,000 grant the school received to support its dual enrollment program C ommercial airline service at the Worcester Regional Airport has ceased going into October, as JetBlue has been non-committal as to when it will resume flights to and from Central Massachusetts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. "With revenue down and demand for air travel continuing to follow an uncertain timeline for recovery, we've made the decision to adjust our reopening plans for seven airports where operations are currently suspended," the airline said in an emailed statement, confirming Worcester is among those seven markets. As the company moves to support its cash preservation and better match capacity to demand, a reopening date for Worcester has yet to be announced, the company said. Until the pandemic, JetBlue offered nonstop service to New York City, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. JetBlue initially requested permission this spring to suspend flights to its Florida nonstops from Worcester. No more commercial service Worcester Regional Airport has struggled to add airlines and flights consistently over its existence, and Jet- Blue was the only airline offering year- round commercial service out of the airport between 2013 and 2019. e airport had some success in the last two years, adding flights from Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, but the coronavirus pandemic has undone BY MONICA BUSCH Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer all those efforts, as least temporarily. e news about JetBlue comes aer Delta Air Lines announced it was sus- pending service to Worcester effective Oct. 1. Previously, Delta offered daily flights from Worcester to Detroit. "As demand recovers, we hope to resume service to ORH in the future. Customers whose travel is impacted as a result of this service suspension will be reaccommodated," the airline said in a statement in September. "We con- tinue to evaluate our overall network schedule based on the evolving nature of COVID-19, customer demand, gov- ernment travel regulations and federal health guidelines." American Airlines, the only other commercial airline to provide service out of Worcester, to Philadelphia, also stopped flying out of Central Massa- chusetts in the spring. "e Department recognizes the challenges faced by communities resulting from the loss of certain air services," the U.S. Department of Transportation said in the filing approving the stoppage of the JetBlue and American Airlines services out of Worcester. "However, the Department believes that the process we are finaliz- ing here strikes an appropriate balance between the needs of communities to maintain at least minimal access to the national air transportation system during the public health emergency, and the needs of carriers to conserve financial resources to weather this time of unprecedented loss of demand." W

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