Sept. 1, 2020
A prior permission required (PPR) reservation program for general aviation (GA) traffic at Boston’s Logan International Airport (BOS) has been suspended while GA and air carrier operations levels remain down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In coordination with the local business aviation community and NBAA, Massport and BOS FBO Signature Flight Support implemented the PPR last October due to reduced ramp space as construction began to expand the airport’s international terminal.
Though initially scheduled to continue until 2023, the sharp reduction in commercial and GA traffic led to suspension of the reservation program effective Sept. 1. Operators are encouraged to continue sharing their plans with Signature in advance to aid in GA parking space management, especially when planning to remain at BOS longer than one consecutive night.
Read the text of the PPR suspension notice.
Russ Arena, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Aviation Association (MBAA), said his group joined with NBAA and reached out to Massport officials immediately when the PPR proposal first arose last year.
“We’ve had a great relationship for years with officials at [Laurence G.] Hanscom Field (BED), but didn’t often interact with their counterparts at BOS,” he said. “They were tremendously receptive when we advised that we could be an asset in helping to get the word out about the PPR, and our collaboration strengthened from there.”
NBAA Northeast Regional Representative Brittany Davies and Alex Gertsen, NBAA’s director of airports and ground infrastructure, together with MBAA, initiated bi-weekly status meetings with Massport, Signature, ATC tower and TRACON personnel and other stakeholders to continuously review the PPR’s impact on GA operations at BOS and make adjustments as needed.
“Those meetings are the glue that has kept this process together,” added Max Grover, MBAA’s government affairs chairperson, “and the question came up last month about maintaining the PPR in this environment. Why require reservations when the robust coordination processes we’ve put in place allow us to confidently manage parking without them?”
Within weeks, stakeholders had agreed to suspend the PPR and cancel the associated NOTAM. While the PPR may be reinstated if traffic levels warrant, Gertsen lauded MBAA’s ongoing work to mitigate its effects on business aviation, as well as the day-to-day coordination between Massport and Signature to utilize all available ramp space at BOS to maximize parking for all airport users.
“Thanks to everyone’s contributions, we assembled a fantastic group to collaborate on solutions that ease the PPR’s impact on business aviation,” Gertsen added. “By leveraging each other’s expertise, we also found we could suspend the PPR as we continue working to reduce the effects from construction on GA operators to BOS.”
Davies agreed. “This really shows the power of local regional groups keeping the pulse on local developments, and then working with their NBAA regional representatives to bring all resources to bear in addressing any challenges,” she said.
NBAA and MBAA will continue to work collaboratively with Massport and other stakeholders to minimize the short-term disruption from construction, and ensure long-term GA capacity is restored to pre-construction levels and that business aviation continues to enjoy unhindered access to Logan.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.