Delta Air Lines today announced that between June and September the carrier 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 this morning said the additional flights would offer customers a total of 139 peak day flights to 67 destinations from its JFK hub, adding the 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. The U.S. Department of Transportation in January gave Delta Air Lines 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).
Destinations that Delta added or expanded from JFK include: Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracus, 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.
Meanwhile, the carrier said it is investing more than $10 million to renovate its terminals-including public spaces, its BusinessElite lounge and Crown Room Clubs-at JFK. Delta also is moving toward expediting kiosk checkin options to include international flights, expected for completion by year-end.