Logan Airport Flights and Airlines Discussion

Song's long gone. I know their aircraft are owned and still operated under Delta with the typical delta exterior (not the lime green and white that they used to operate under). Song has been owned and operated by Delta as part of Delta (meaning you couldn't book a flight on Song-- you had to book on Delta and hope you get lucky) since at LEAST late 2006/early 2007. In fact, while trying to book a trip on Song (and subsequently learning it was no more) in January of '07, I ended up booking my first flight on Jet Blue because of the similarities. I wasn't disappointed.
 
^That's good. I really like JetBlue, aside from the cancellations/delay fiasco they had a year or two ago, they've been fantastic, comfortable, and affordable every time I've flown.

JetBlows

'The' fiasco?
They've had numerous, and I always seem to be flying with them when these occur.

When they have a problem, it's big, because they've refused to 'partner' with anybody. Flight delayed or canceled--tough. That's the JetBlow model.

Jaded. I fly too much. It used to be fun to fly. *sigh* Reminiscing...
Okay, well, it didn't suck. Now, it sucks. Greyhound buses in the air for real. I'm not a snob about much, but flying like a king, that was my indulgence. Thank whatever for the gobs of flyer miles I have banked on many of the airlines. I won't ever have to pay for a flight again, likely. Until there are additional changes, new regulations, or they dump the current frequent flyer programs as I know them.
 
Not a flight "addition" but worth mentioning, regardless.

I just booked a round trip flight to Buffalo for $9 each way (plus $10 each way in surcharges). Buffalo in January? What's not to love?!

We're excited to announce we're the "Official Airline of the Boston Red Sox" and to celebrate, we're throwing a 9-Hour Sale with ridiculously low fares between Boston and other AL parks.

Sale begins on December 19 at 9 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. Travel dates are January 6 thru February 10, 2009 with blackouts January 15-19. Friday and Sunday travel is also excluded.
 
YES.

Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines coming to Logan

Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co. said it plans to begin flying out of Logan International Airport by the fall, a long-awaited move that could drive down airfares for Boston passengers.

In an exclusive interview with the Globe, chief executive Gary Kelly said the airline is planning "a conservative launch" with between eight and 12 daily departures from Logan. He said Southwest probably will just fly to a couple of destinations initially, but the airline does not plan to unveil its new routes until the spring. Southwest's arrival in Boston, Kelly said, will result in 35 to 40 new jobs at the airport.

Southwest, which has been serving airports near Manchester, Providence, and Hartford since the late 1990s, has been eyeing Boston for years. But Kelly told the Globe last April that he didn't foresee the airline would start service in Boston in 2009 because fuel prices were skyrocketing and the costs of operating at Logan were too high. However, Kelly said at the time that if another airline significantly reduced its Boston flights, Southwest could seize the "perfect opportunity."

Since then, several carriers, hammered by high fuel prices, have trimmed their schedules, leaving Logan with 311,478 domestic flights in 2008, down 6 percent compared with 2007. And at about $55 a barrel, fuel is about one-third the cost of what it was last year. But Kelly said the biggest reason Southwest decided to launch service from the Hub was because it's shifting some of its 539 planes from unpopular routes to markets that it hopes will be more profitable.

Kelly said the 27 daily nonstop departures from Manchester and 31 daily nonstop departures from Providence will still represent the majority of flights out of the region. But launching service in Boston, which will become Southwest's 67th destination, is a smart move since the area is brimming with business travelers. Southwest, which said 40 to 45 percent of its passengers nationwide are business travelers, is hoping to snag more of them from the Boston area.

"We know that there are customers in the Boston area that we don't serve today, so this will be a very nice complement to our Providence and Manchester service," Kelly said.

Industry analysts say Southwest's move will also be good for travelers. Henry H. Harteveldt, principal airline analyst for Forrester Research Inc., said the arrival of Southwest is "a huge coup for Boston" and the city's travelers because wherever Southwest goes, lower airfares follow.

Patrick B. Moscaritolo, chief executive of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau said Southwest's arrival will benefit all Boston travelers, particularly business travelers. Last month, in an effort to get the airline to consider Boston service, Moscaritolo wrote a letter to Southwest pointing out that in 2008 four out of every 10 occupied rooms on any given night in Boston and Cambridge were occupied by a business traveler.

"I haven't heard back," Moscaritolo said. But now that the airline is coming to Boston, he said: "The sooner the better."

Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, said Southwest is a welcome addition. "We are thrilled to welcome Southwest Airlines to Boston Logan," said Ed Freni, Massport's aviation director. He added that customers would benefit from Southwest's "quality customer service."

Southwest isn't the only carrier shaking up competition at Logan. Last week, Virgin America, another low-cost airline, debuted at Logan with nonstop service to both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Since Virgin America said in December it would break into the Boston market, round-trip airfares for nonstop flights to San Francisco on competing carriers have plummeted 41 percent, from an average of $400 in December to $238 this month, according to Rick Seaney, chief executive of airfare comparison website FareCompare.com.

"You've got very strong competitors in there who will bring value back to Logan," Harteveldt said.

For now, it's unclear on what routes Southwest will compete. But industry analysts expect Southwest to go head-to-head with some of Logan's largest carriers.

Dan Kasper, managing director of Cambridge aviation consulting firm LECG LLC, predicts Southwest may pick Chicago, where passengers can hop onto a lot of connecting flights. Other likely destinations would be Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, he said.

"They've jumped pretty strong into Florida out of the Northeast," Kasper said.

A spokesman for JetBlue Airways Corp., the carrier with the most daily departures between Boston and Florida, declined to comment.

Ned Raynolds, spokesman for American Airlines Inc., Logan's largest carrier based on passengers served, said even if American faces competition from Southwest on its nonstop routes to the Miami, Chicago, or Washington, D.C., markets, "we'll continue to offer great service, a great schedule of domestic and international destinations, and competitive pricing in and out of Boston."

http://www.boston.com/business/arti...t_carrier_southwest_airlines_coming_to_logan/




I'm almost positive that Southwest will be in Terminal D. Northwest was supposed to move in last year, but ever since the merger they were planed to be re-routed to Terminal A with Delta. Terminal D airside is a ghost town. Ever since Airtran moved out Massport's been waiting for another major tenant to fill the space.
 
Longtime lurker here.....just an FYI, local Minneapolis-based carrier, Sun Country Airlines, starts Minneapolis to Boston flights in May.
 
Starts? I flew to SF on Sun Country via Minneapolis...in 2001.
 
I'm guessing they pulled out around 9/11 or shortly after. I've been flying in and out of Logan on better than a monthly basis for almost five years and I've never seen a Sun Country plane, nor any indication that they served Logan in that time.
 
As a frequent flyer (~250 flights/year out of Logan) for the last decade, I would sooner crawl to a destination than fly on southworst.

That said, I welcome them to Logan as it may contribute to create even lower prices on the other carriers.
 
Ron, southworst is like riding on a bus that happens to fly. I am not discounting the success it enjoyed for many years (profitability-wise), nor can I say that many of the elements in its business model are not worthy of emulation by others in the industry.

I am saying that as a very frequent business traveler, it is nice to sit in a first class cabin apart from the noise and general cluelessness of the vactioners.
 
Southwest to commence flights to Boston August 16, five flights per day each to Chicago-Midway and Baltimore.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/04/14/southwest_will_start_logan_run_in_august/

Looks like JetBlue is increasing its flights on the Boston-BWI route.

Southwest has added Denver to its destinations served to and from Boston. They've also upped the ante on the Boston-BWI route with two more additional daily flights each way to start in the spring.
 
Looks like JetBlue is increasing its flights on the Boston-BWI route.

Southwest has added Denver to its destinations served to and from Boston. They've also upped the ante on the Boston-BWI route with two more additional daily flights each way to start in the spring.

Don't forget about St. Louis. Southwest is filling the void left by American as they have cut St. Louis down in frequency.
 
Don't forget about St. Louis. Southwest is filling the void left by American as they have cut St. Louis down in frequency.

I didn't know SW added St. Louis-Boston flights. The additions (and the competition) by JetBlue and Southwest should have a great impact on travelers and the city of Boston (offering the state and city another card to lure businesses).

Any news on the international front? Did Lufthansa makes it's Munich route year-round with its mainline fleet? By this, I know they flew a 340 for half the year, then switched a 48-seat, business-only Boeing 737 aircraft during the other six.

I do wonder with Lufthansa buying a big stake in Jetblue will led to Boston becoming a hub for the airline and the Star Alliance (adding more destinations and flights served by the airliners within the alliance).
 
I know there's been some talk recently by some MA transportation activists to try and offer subsidies for direct flights to East Asia to build the state's business ties with the region. One of the issues is that Logan is crowded and it's expensive to get a slot there, so there's debate over whether it would be better to directly subsidize an Asian airline's presence (easier) or pour the money into HSR to reduce dependence on short-haul East Coast flights, hence opening up slots (probably better in the long term...but a very lengthy process).
 
I know there's been some talk recently by some MA transportation activists to try and offer subsidies for direct flights to East Asia to build the state's business ties with the region. One of the issues is that Logan is crowded and it's expensive to get a slot there, so there's debate over whether it would be better to directly subsidize an Asian airline's presence (easier) or pour the money into HSR to reduce dependence on short-haul East Coast flights, hence opening up slots (probably better in the long term...but a very lengthy process).

I don't believe Boston is a slot-allocated airport. Airports like Tokyo, Chicago O'Hare, London Heathrow, New York-JFK are. Crowded in terms of gate space could be an issue.

I thought one of the reasons that Boston has problems with getting service to Asia is that the flights can't fly fully-loaded on a 777/747 due to the short runways. Isn't the why the 787 is suppose to fix that?
 
I didn't know SW added St. Louis-Boston flights. The additions (and the competition) by JetBlue and Southwest should have a great impact on travelers and the city of Boston (offering the state and city another card to lure businesses).

Any news on the international front? Did Lufthansa makes it's Munich route year-round with its mainline fleet? By this, I know they flew a 340 for half the year, then switched a 48-seat, business-only Boeing 737 aircraft during the other six.

I do wonder with Lufthansa buying a big stake in Jetblue will led to Boston becoming a hub for the airline and the Star Alliance (adding more destinations and flights served by the airliners within the alliance).

There are currently no plans for Lufthansa to make their Munich-Boston route wide body year round. It will stay at the current 7 month wide body run and then 5 month 737.

I really don't think we will see Boston become a European gateway hub for anyone airline. Delta could do it, but they lack custom facilities in their terminal. There has been much debate as to who's fault that is.

As far as key long haul routes, only Brussels, Sao Paulo and either Tokyo or Seoul are the only major holes. Of course American is launching one-stop, same plan service for Boston to Brussels via London.

I don't believe Boston is a slot-allocated airport. Airports like Tokyo, Chicago O'Hare, London Heathrow, New York-JFK are. Crowded in terms of gate space could be an issue.

I thought one of the reasons that Boston has problems with getting service to Asia is that the flights can't fly fully-loaded on a 777/747 due to the short runways. Isn't the why the 787 is suppose to fix that?

Boston to Asia is a perfect example of the big benefits of the 787. Boston is not slot controlled also. Boston will see non-stop service to Asia by 2013. My money is on Korean Air to Seoul, or ANA to Tokyo. (Both have ordered the 787).
 

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