Contact: Matthew Brelis or
Danny Levy 617 568-3100

Massport Opens the Door to Customers with Online Real-Time Chat
“Question the Authority” on massport.com Kicks Off Sept. 23 with CEO Tom Kinton

BOSTON – Ever feel like you can never get a straight answer from a faceless bureaucracy? Ever wonder why that plane is flying over your house? Are you a travel hound who secretly wonders why Boston Logan International Airport runways are numbered and its terminals are lettered? We know you have questions. We've got answers!*

With Massport’s new web-based real-time live chat “Question the Authority” we’ll provide answers to your questions. And we are starting at the top, with Thomas J. Kinton Jr., the CEO & Executive Director of the Massachusetts Port Authority, answering questions from 12 noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23. As CEO, Kinton oversees Boston Logan International Airport and Massport’s other aviation assets including Hanscom Field, in Bedford and Worcester Regional Airport as well as the public cruise, cargo and container terminals of the Port of Boston and development of Massport-owned property in the metropolitan area.

“I am looking forward to engaging with our customers and neighbors, to learn more about what’s on their minds, and answer any questions they may have,’’ said Kinton. “This is a way for us, in the interests of open and responsive government, to connect with people who use our facilities, are impacted by them, or simply want to know more about the Authority, which is an economic engine for the region and uses no state tax money for its operations or capital improvements.’’

Want to ask a question? Simply go to massport.com at 12 noon and type away! Depending on the volume of questions received, we may not be able to answer each question during the hour of the live chat. A transcript of the Q&A session will remain up on the website. Can’t get online during lunch hour? Feel free to submit questions in advance by emailing them to communications@massport.com and put Question the Authority in the subject line. You can also submit questions in advance at facebook.com/bostonlogan or twitter.com/bostonlogan using the hashtag #QTAchat.

Massport will have different employees, board members and even transportation guests – each an authority in their field – host regularly scheduled sessions of Question the Authority.

Kinton was named CEO and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Port Authority in 2006, after a career spanning more than three decades at Massport – much of it spent as Director of Aviation. Among his many achievements, Kinton is recognized nationally for Logan's Family Assistance Program for Aviation Disasters that played a key role on 9/11. He was also instrumental in Logan's Behavior Pattern Recognition Program that helped earn Logan the 2004 Airport Security Report's award for "Exceptional Performance in Airport Security."

Kinton's priorities as CEO are the safety and security of Massport’s transportation facilities, improving customer service, and expanding air and maritime services that allow New England to connect with markets in the US and around the world.

Boston Logan, 15 minutes from the intersection of Route 128 and I-90 and five minutes from downtown Boston, serves as the gateway to the New England region and offers nonstop service to 70 domestic and 31 international destinations and in 2009 handled 25.5 million passengers. Boston Logan is the Air Line Pilot Association’s Airport of the Year for 2008 because of its commitment to safety. Over the past decade, the airport spent $4.5 billion on a modernization program that includes new terminals, parking facilities, roadways and airport concessions, and has been transformed into a world-class 21st Century facility. The airport generates $7 billion in total economic impact each year.

*Massport’s intent with Question the Authority is to provide a real person – a name and a face – to answer all types of questions; however, queries containing rude or offensive language will not receive a response.

Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers direct the movements of commercial aircraft. Pilots flying in and out of Logan are generally kept within airspace corridors, sort of like highways in the sky. Runway selection – and the use of the corridors associated with runways – is based on wind and weather.

Runways have a numerical designation that corresponds to a compass heading. So a plane landing on Runway 15R at Logan is on a compass heading of 150 degrees; terminals at Logan are lettered because it is a simple designation. Numbers would not work as well, because each terminal has gates that are designated by number and it is easier to distinguish with a letter and a number, rather than two numbers; for example, A17 and C17, rather than gate 117 and gate 317.

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) owns and operates Boston Logan International Airport, public terminals in the Port of Boston, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport. Massport is a financially self-sustaining public authority whose premier transportation facilities generate more than $8 billion annually, and enhance and enable economic growth and vitality in New England. No state tax dollars are used to fund operations or capital improvements at Massport facilities.

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