Boston to New York by air – sea

Forget that heliport, Boston. Seaplanes may soon be your fastest ticket to Manhattan.

Cape Air has signed a crucial "Letter of Agreement" from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly seaplanes in the airspace over Boston's Inner Harbor. The federal agency basically decided that the flights would not disrupt the traffic at Logan Airport, where Cape Air is already very present.

This is an important step. But this is just one of the many goals of Cape Air's CEO, Dan Wolf, as he tries to complete his quest for a float plane service in Boston. These planes are regulated as boats (by the Coast Guard) and as aircraft (by the FAA). Cape Air will also need the blessing of Boston officials for a mooring area; a number of sites along the South Boston waterfront are under study. (The East 23rd Street seaplane terminal is obvious for the New York side.)

The end is in sight, however. Wolf says he hopes to be able to offer three flights a day in each direction by the summer of next year. The service would be seasonal, with flights of about nine months a year. It is difficult to fly these planes in freezing weather. The aircraft would be a Cessna 208 Caravans of nine passengers; Cape Air must always buy or rent the two planes it needs. According to Wolf, the one-way fare would be in the range of $ 300 to $ 400 because it wants to stay competitive with the LaGuardia shuttles on the fly at Logan.

Of course, the real attraction is to travel to Manhattan from the seaport in about 70 minutes, without the hassle of navigating the airports or going back and forth.

Another company may be right in the tail of Cape Air. Alan Ram, of Tailwind Air, said he hoped to get his FAA's seaplane letter from the FAA by the end of the year, with the goal being to start the flights. 'next summer. He expects prices to be similar to those of Cape Air. There is enough room in this market, he says, for both operators.

A number of Boston business leaders have long sought a way to get to New York quickly, without the usual airport headaches. But the city has been without a general purpose heliport for about two decades.

Some had hoped that the arrival of General Electric in the city, two years ago, would provoke movements on this front. But this idea raised an uproar in South Boston and GE quickly backed down.

Wolf quickly points out that seaplanes have a much smaller impact than helicopters. There would probably be fewer flights, for example, and none at night. Wolf, former Senator of Cape Cod, said his team had held more than 90 meetings in and around Boston to discuss the concept, address community concerns and get feedback.

Wolf started on this track at least five years ago. He met for the first time the former mayor, Tom Menino, to analyze the idea. Now, Wolf hopes to complete the trip under the supervision of Mayor Marty Walsh. There is no hurry for Cape Air, he says. Wolf is a qualified pilot and a CEO. In both roles, he learned the importance of a proper takeoff.

Jon Chesto can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jonchesto.