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If new plane service takes off, it won't be a runway success

By adamg on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:03pm
Seaplane in Boston Harbor

The day after the Globe reported two companies want to start seaplane service to New York, Aidan noticed a seaplane just casually docked in Boston Harbor.

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Boston Harbor


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Comments

By theszak on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:08pm.

By water!... Massachusetts to New York City, NYC to Massachusetts. SeaStreak
http://seastreak.com/ferry-routes-and-schedules/between-new-jersey-new-y...

or Liberty Clipper
http://www.libertyfleet.com/windjammer-cruises/boston-to-new-york-city-c...

By BullDetector on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:14pm.

Why?

By DPM on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:41pm.

Liberty Clipper looks interesting. I am actually go to NYC for a cruise that week. Anyone ever taken it?

By Bob on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 10:45am.

More airplane noise for Eastie, seaplanes on Boston harbor, what is this "Fantasy Island" bring in Mr Rork and Tatoo. Have them greet the passengers.

By Thom on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 10:58am.

Clean Harbors welcomes Seaplanes with open arms, lets pollute the harbor, load up a fuel station while their at it along the harbor where these planes can fuel up, marine mammals in the harbor would love the aroma of fresh fuel. Marine mammals won't mind while a seaplane lands or takes off on the surface of the harbor, it will not scare them away a bit.

By FredQuimby on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 12:21pm.

There are already multiple fuel stations in Boston Harbor. In fact,you're looking right at one in that photo. Guess what? Boats need fuel too. Boston harbor is full of boats. It has been that way for hundreds of years. Since the 1800s they have used coal, gas or diesel.

And if you think a float plane is any more noisy than a cigarette boat or the fast ferries, think again.

By FredQuimby on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:18pm.

I have a friend who works at Fan Pier. He told me they are testing the feasibility of basing the plane there. This morning they were checking noise levels and impact on existing marina customers and whether it was something they wanted to have based at the marina.

This photo was taken from the public dock behind Whiskey Priest/ABG.

By anon on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:40pm.

They could mitigate those by telling the restaurant to turn down the annoying Oldeez Cheeze blasting at 120dB out toward the harborwalk.

I'll take seaplane noise over that imposition on my recreation anytime!

By BullDetector on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 3:08pm.

Aren't you special !

By Gary C on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:23pm.

I always remember watching the seaplanes land and take off in Vancouver. It's actually quite beautiful. I wouldn't want one landing every 5 minutes starting at 5:00am, next to my (imaginary) water-front condo. Otherwise, this is something that is good in almost every way.

By boo_urns on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:37pm.

Until I saw it's $1000 for a round trip. Guess I'm just not their target market, though.

By FredQuimby on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:42pm.

And the CEOs who visit them.

Fast, direct access to Manhattan. There and back in the same afternoon. Have your meeting and be home again for dinner.

By Steve Brady on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 2:48pm.

Try Higher for Hire. Much more reasonable rates.

By Lunchbox on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 1:33pm.

Saw it fly by twice so far today.

By aldos on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 2:39pm.

Flying over downtown/the harbor.

By tcf098 on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 2:04pm.

This post title. It pleases me.

By Trump-Baker 2016 on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 2:36pm.

The airport is really far from Fan Pier so I can see why its important to take up more of the harbor for planes taking off and landing, as well as the added noise pollution, so 1%ers can save 15 minutes it takes to get to logan, and of course the priceless experience of not having to interact with the public in the airport. With yacht parking taking up an increasing amount of the waterfront, its time to give the little bit left to planes.

By ElizaLeila on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 3:41pm.

The Logan Hilton looks soooooooo far away in that photo above.

By KellyJMF on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 3:52pm.

If it gets their entitled asses out of the security line in front of me, I'm all for it. And given the hourly rate for their salaries, skipping security and boarding and all that waiting around probably more than pays for the flight.

By bosguy22 on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 4:28pm.

They're entitled, but you're the one who should be at the front of the security line. Interesting.

By KellyJMF on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 4:56pm.

I don't need to jump to the front, I just want the line to be short and fast. The fewer people in it, the better.

By bosguy22 on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 4:29pm.

Have you ever been to NYC? Do you have any idea how long it can take to get from LGA to Manhattan? That's where the time savings is, not in Boston.

By BullDetector on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 4:45pm.

That's the real savings.

By anon on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 11:36am.

The minimum checkin time on the Delta Shuttle is 15 minutes.

By anon on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 1:53pm.

They want their metal detector back.

By BullDetector on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 4:03pm.

Good luck with your 15 minute check in.,

By ElizaLeila on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 5:36pm.

How often do you go through Logan?

By anon on Thu, 05/12/2016 - 11:11am.

Why do you think Delta made a special exception to their minimum checkin times for the Shuttle?

Probably because the security line is usually very quick. And if it's not, they'll just put you on the next flight.

By anon on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 11:38am.

Right now, it would take about half an hour to drive from LGA to the Empire State Building.

From the proposed dock at 23rd and 1st, it would take about 15 minutes.

By anon on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 4:29pm.

I live near a small airport and the sound of small propeller aircraft is horrible. Seaplanes in the harbor would provide a small benefit to a handful of 1%-ers while detracting from the lives of tens of thousands.

By merlinmurph on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 4:39pm.

Really??

By The original Seaport Yuppie... on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 7:35pm.

Then why did you move there

By boo_urns on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 12:59pm.

Here's mine: I grew up in a town with a small airport with constant traffic all day due to a local college that had a pilot program (now defunct afaik, college was bought out). When I moved to places without such a presence, I found it oddly quiet and I missed all of the noise. It was fun to hear the planes, look up, and watch them fly.

By anon on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 4:36pm.

Sea Plane
First class Airline
Amtrak
limo Service
Uber
Yellow Cab
Keolis CR
South Station Buses
Light Rail
Subway lines
Bicycles
Silver Line
MBTA Buses

By anon on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 7:03pm.

Helicopter is # 1.

By Irma la Douce on Tue, 05/10/2016 - 7:14pm.

I think limo service beats Amtrak.

By chaosjake on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 1:35am.

And Keolis CR definitely belongs below subways.

By anon on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 7:11am.

I'm just concerned about whether this will take up some of the places that we are allowed to sail in the harbor. We came over to here from the Charles River for a bunch of reasons, but the best benefit is that it is a lot less crowded.

By anon on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 11:40am.

Don't boaters have a right to use all public waterways, which is strictly defended by the Coast Guard?

By Ryan on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 1:12pm.

There are lots of places boaters can't go for safety reasons, such as the area around Logan. They also have temporary exclusion zones for all sorts of events or when certain large ships enter/exit the port. They could easily add an exclusion zone for the use of the airplane when taking off or landing. As far as I know, when on the surface the seaplane is treated like a boat and must follow all the relevant rules, but given the amount of small boat traffic in the harbor I imagine they'd like some guarantee of being able to take off at a particular time.

By MatthewC on Thu, 05/12/2016 - 11:10am.

Actually, waterways use is strictly "enforced". No, I would say there no "right" to use all public waterways. As with driving a car, it's a privilege.

By anon on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 9:57am.

Fine, so long as it doesn't adversely affect me.

But if it's going to introduce more noise or safety issues, the very wealthy can go back to their Learjets.

By Thom on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 10:51am.

Extremely awful idea, during the summer month the harbor is packed with boaters, should we ban all boaters from coming into the harbor just because corporate airplane service needs to make a few bucks,, no fucking way! This should be stopped and should not happen.

By DF on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 11:09am.

Millennium Tower billionaire residents demand their seaplane service to the harbor, or else they will move elsewhere.

By Ryan on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 1:19pm.

I think you're overestimating the impact this will have. It's just a tiny plane, and it takes off in a pretty short distance. It's going to be like a cigarette boat gunning it for a few hundred feet (except likely quieter) and then it's gone. I regularly boat on a lake that has a sizable seaplane presence, and I've also flow in said seaplanes many times. The pilot picks and empty spot and lands. It's really a non-event after you've seen it a few times.

By F-14 flyover on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 10:50pm.

There used to be a small airline with seaplanes like that that would take off from Biscayne Bay in Miami and fly to the Bahamas. They claimed to be the world's first airline.

They also claimed to be the safest airline in the world, as all their fights were over water and all their planes had those pontoons. Engine failure? We'll just land right here on top of the water and call for assistance!

By roadman on Thu, 05/12/2016 - 3:55pm.

Had a great safety record. Until this happened:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalk%27s_Ocean_Airways_Flight_101

Documentary about the crash:

">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwjbaGkepEE[/youtube]