Delta Links Travelers to JFK

By DAVID McPHERSON Journal Staff Writer

* Passengers from T.F. Green Airport will be able to connect to the New York airport’s roster of international flights.

* * *

Aiming to remake its business and emerge from bankruptcy, Delta Air Lines yesterday announced a major expansion of its Northeast service that will make it easier for Rhode Islanders to reach New York City.

The Atlanta-based airline said it will begin offering Aug. 15 four flights daily to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport from T.F. Green in Warwick.

The new service will enable Rhode Island passengers headed overseas to fly from Green airport by providing a link to JFK’s roster of international flights. Currently, flights on United Airlines and U.S. Airways Express from Green head only to LaGuardia Airport, whose flights are limited to the United States and Canada.

The four New York flights from Green are part of a service expansion Delta announced in New York yesterday. In total, Delta plans to add 46 new daily flights to New York on the parent airline or Delta Connection carriers from 17 destinations, including Albany, Cleveland, Detroit and Baltimore.

The Delta Connection service from Green to JFK will be on 37- seat Dash-8 turboprops flown by Freedom Airlines. That carrier is an independent airline owned by Mesa Air Group Inc., which signed a partnership agreement with Delta last year.

Delta said it will spend $10 million on terminal renovations at JFK to accommodate the expanded service.

“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,” Delta chief operating officer Jim Whitehurst said in a statement.

Delta Air Lines filed for bankruptcy protection in September.

The addition of the flights to JFK will help Green make up the recent elimination of flights by other airlines. In January, Independence Air, a discount carrier, ceased operations and American Airlines pulled out of Green and substituted smaller American Eagle jets.

dmcpherson@projo.com/ (401) 277-7350