By Rod Lee

There was no mistaking the theme of the evening as the Auburn Chamber of Commerce welcomed about sixty businesspersons for its 60th annual meeting at J. Anthony’s on April 12th.

 Worcester Regional Airport is bustling again and Orlando as a destination may be coming soon, Andrew B. Davis told the 60th annual meeting of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce on April 12.

For Chamber President Kerri Cunningham of the Fuller Automotive Companies of Auburn, it was building membership. For Guest Speaker Andrew B. Davis of Massport, it was building interest in flights from Worcester Regional Airport.

In their remarks, Ms. Cunningham and Matteo Gentile of Exit Beacon Pointe Realty both enunciated the benefits of affiliation with the Chamber in advancing the interests of the organization.

“We want to see more involvement,” Ms. Cunningham said; all the better, she noted, in order to generate a good turnout for activities that are coming up in the near future including a town cleanup in May, a business showcase in June, a golf tournament in September and the Chamber’s popular scarecrow contest in October.

Mr. Gentile chairs the Chamber’s Nominating Committee. He asked attendees to consider serving with that committee.

A brochure provided as a handout listed some of the many opportunities provided to members of the Chamber: networking; programs; access to a professional staff headed by Virginia Murphy; workforce education; volunteerism; referrals; a member spotlight; public policy and economic development exposure through an attachment with the Worcester Chamber; and more.

In his keynote talk, which was accompanied by a slide show, Mr. Davis said Worcester Regional Airport has witnessed steady gains since being acquired by Massport in 2008.

Massport’s purchase of the facility “was a big milestone,” he said.

The arrival of JetBlue in 2013, major investment by Retrix Aviation in 2015, installation of a Catz Instrument Landing System (to deal with the issue of fog) and American coming on board in 2018, and the addition of a third airline—Delta—In 2019 are among the positives the airport has experienced over the past fourteen years, he said.

Then came 2020 and the pandemic. Boston’s Logan lost ninety percent of its business, Worcester virtually all of it. “Airlines had airplanes parked in the desert,” he said.

Now, “we have all flights back and larger planes,” he said, to applause.

Addressing what he probably knew would be a question posed to him in the Q-and-A that followed, Mr. Davis said “we are dying to get Orlando back” as a destination. “We are wearing JetBlue down for Orlando.” But, as you know, he pointed out, “JetBlue has hit some rough patches” of late.

With a 76th anniversary of the airport observed in 2021, Massport is focusing on making the facility even more attractive to airline travelers, Mr. Davis said. “We will be doing extensive marketing over the summer. We are now the official airline of the Worcester Red Sox. We are using social media to promote Ft. Lauderdale and New York City and connecting flights. We will continue with infrastructure improvements. We spent over $5 million on snow-removal equipment; we can clear a runway in fifteen minutes.”

To a question about whether “Washington is a possibility,” Mr. Davis smiled and said “there’s a certain congressman (James P. McGovern) who bugs me about that all the time!”

Mr. Davis’s central message to his audience was this:

In planning business or leisure trips, “check Worcester first.”

Contact Rod Lee at [email protected] or 774-232-2999.