All Things Travel: Logan Airport Helps Land GE In Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Relocate to innovate.
That is the story behind General Electric's decision to move their world corporate headquarters a couple of hundred miles from Fairfield, Connecticut to Boston.
It's Cambridge's brainpower and Boston's air power at Logan Airport that helped close the deal.
Of course, $120 million in tax breaks and other financial incentives should be noted.
Having a major airport 10 minutes from the Seaport District and their proposed headquarters was a big plus. Also, there is a new trend on where young innovators want to work and live. They want the action downtown, not some office park 15 miles from downtown.
A dozen or so years ago, there was a preview of the General Electric move. Virgin America Airlines was looking for a city for its U.S. headquarters. The site had to be in view of an airport. A caravan of vehicles pulled up at a building off Summer Street on Drydock Avenue in the Seaport District. It could be rehabbed for the proposed tenant.
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Virgin picked San Francisco, but it was a preview of things to come.
In the last two years, a dozen international airlines have announced plans to fly from Boston to new destinations like China and the Middle East. Emirates Airlines is not only considered one of the best airlines in the world, but it has connections to both Africa and India. G.E. does business all over the world.
Another plus for general Electric is nearby facilities for their private jet fleet. They could be based at Hanscom Field. Visitors could be a short 10 minutes away when they fly into Logan on private jets and park at Signature Flight Support.
For younger employees, who are working and living in Boston, having Logan nearby makes it easy to take advantage of a new trend that will start this year. Low-cost international carriers like Air Berlin, Norwegian and WOW Airlines make travel to Europe much more affordable for all employees on vacation.
Massport, which runs Logan Airport, also owns property in The Seaport District where GE will locate and has been active in the process of bringing the company to Boston.
"We were proud to assist the Governor and Mayor in this terrific enterprise. In August, we were asked to talk about Logan capacity and routes and we have 53 international destinations up from 26 in 2006," said Massport CEO Thomas Glynn. "As GE learned more about the economy and education here, we were asked in November about possible sites for their headquarters building."
With all this activity, one of the things that has to happen is more capacity on the MBTA Silver Line from Logan Airport to the Seaport District and downtown Boston.
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