Delta Air Lines this month announced that between June and September it will bulk up international and domestic service at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport by adding 46 new departures to 17 destinations.
Delta COO Jim Whitehurst said the additional flights would offer customers a total of 139 peak-day flights to 67 destinations from its JFK hub. Whitehurst added that this level of service is "more than American Airlines, our nearest competitor."
The new and expanded routes will have little impact on operations at its other hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City as the new service will come from "new demand, or frankly demand that we'll take away from our other competitors," Whitehurst said.
Delta said it is boosting JFK service largely to feed into growing international service operated from the airport. Delta—like many of its legacy airline peers—has been aggressively expanding to foreign markets as it continues to court higher-yielding corporate business. During the first six months of 2005 alone, traffic and capacity growth by several carriers to multiple geographic regions reached double-digit percentages
(BTN, July 18, 2005).The U.S. Department of Transportation in January gave Delta final approval to add by this summer 11 new routes from the United States—many from JFK—to markets in Europe, the Middle East, Mexico and South America
(BTNonline, Jan. 20).Delta said the additional routes—set to be launched this year (see chart)—make the carrier the largest international service provider at JFK, with flights to 31 destinations in Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
In addition to those destinations announced in January, Delta will launch new or expanded service from JFK to Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y.; Cleveland; Detroit; Norfolk and Richmond, Va.; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Hartford, Conn.; Providence, R.I.; Reagan and Dulles airports in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Las Vegas, Nev.; as well as Montreal and Quebec.
Delta Connection carriers Comair and Freedom Airlines will operate the expanded service in the Northeast with 50-seat Bombardier regional jets and 37-seat DeHavilland Dash-8 turboprops. Delta will operate the expanded transcontinental service to Las Vegas and San Diego with Boeing 757 and 737-800 aircraft.
Meanwhile, the carrier said "to support this summer's growth" it is investing more than $10 million to renovate its terminals—including public spaces, its BusinessElite lounge and Crown Room Clubs—at JFK's Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Delta also is moving to expedite kiosk checkin options to include international flights, expected for completion by year-end. Delta said the refurbishment is expected to be complete by late 2006. "Delta's plan to upgrade JFK facilities will improve our customers' travel experience and make it more efficient and enjoyable to travel through one of the world's premier international gateways," Whitehurst said. "Our customers should make no mistake that Delta is committed to New York and that this summer's expansion at JFK is an important step in offering enhanced service to customers in most every direction we serve from New York City."