Boston Logan Terminal Redesign Paying Off With Expanded Service

Two years after Delta Air Lines opened its much-anticipated redesign of Terminal A at Boston's Logan International Airport, the carrier continues to expand domestic service through a series of partnerships with other carriers and increased frequencies offered by subsidiaries.

"At this point, we are pleased with our growth in Boston, which includes having added new service from key business markets to the city through Big Sky Airlines, a development announced on April 9. The recent growth is integral in the airline's plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 30," said Andy McDill, a Delta spokesman.

When Delta exits Chapter 11, for which it filed in September 2005, it estimates it will be worth between $9.4 billion and $12 billion, and is predicting a pretax profit of $816 million for 2007. Delta's Logan strategy hinged on the major Terminal A redevelopment—the first update to the terminal since the 1970s—which cost more than $400 million and was finished in March 2005. About five months after Terminal A and its 680,000 square feet were introduced—twice as large as any of Logan's other passenger terminals—it was reported that Delta wasn't doing as well as had been expected, as an initial projection of 3.3 million passengers per year instead was in the 2.7 million range.

However, with the continuation and expansion of Delta flights, including new service to cities in Mexico and elsewhere, Delta Shuttle flights, Delta Connection service and the addition of further connecting service through the Big Sky-operated flights—which means roundtrip service to Boston from Allentown, Pa.; Islip, N.Y.; Burlington, Vt., and several other Eastern cities—Delta is confident in the original 3.3 million figure, McDill said.

The most recently announced new flights come on the heels of new round-trip service to Boston from the New York cities of Albany, Watertown, Ogdensburg and Massena.

Montana-based Big Sky serves 20 cities in eight states: Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Wisconsin, Washington, Colorado, Wyoming and Illinois, said David Bishko, Delta's vice president of alliances, who said the Allentown and Islip flights would begin on July 15, with the Burlington flights to debut on Aug. 20, while a third round-trip flight between Boston and Albany would begin on Aug. 20 also.

At the outset, Big Sky will fly eight 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D aircraft, which feature stand-up cabins—ceiling heights that allow passengers to stand when not seated—on short-haul routes from Boston. The flights represent an 18 percent increase in departures.

"We are looking forward to being part of the Delta Connection program, one of the most well-respected regional partner programs in the industry," said Fred deLeeuw, president of Big Sky.

Delta ranks as Boston's leading airline, based on the number of departures and destinations served. "In April 2005, Delta had 100 peak-day departures to 22 destinations from Boston Logan, while in April 2007, there were 118 peak-day Delta departures to 35 destinations," McDill said. All of the departures reflect domestic traffic, he added.

Delta officials said that Terminal A is fulfilling its original intent of bringing together all of the airline's domestic products in one place. Terminal A offers direct access from the highway and an exclusive airport exit, saving business travelers time. Also, the terminal has nearly three times the space of Delta's previous locations in Terminals B and C combined; provides one centralized security checkpoint with eight lanes; has 32 self-service kiosks, eight Delta Direct phones and 12 fully covered Skycap curbside checkin locations; a fully automated customer service center and restaurants and shops.

As part of its efforts in Boston, Delta, which has had service in the city since 1933, points to a record consolidated load factor of 83 percent, record mainline system load factor of 83.7 percent and record total domestic load factor of 83.6 percent, all for the month of March.

System traffic increased 3.5 percent from March 2006, with a capacity increase of 0.4 percent.

Logan is operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority, known as Massport, with which Delta announced its partnership to construct the terminal in 2002.

The terminal is a cornerstone of Massport's ongoing $4 billion Logan Modernization Program.