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Photo: Louisville Regional Airport Authority
 

Louisville to New York’s JFK nonstop

Louisville is what I’d consider an average sized station for Delta Air Lines, among mid-sized cities within a 500 mile radius of Atlanta.

Delta Air Lines just launched a non-stop flight between Louisville (SDF) and New York’s John F Kennedy Airport (JFK), along with a second frequency to LaGuardia (LGA), providing Louisville with 3x daily service to the Big Apple. The JFK flight is perfectly timed for international connections at JFK airport.

The new flights are a result of a slot-swap deal between US Airways and Delta several months ago. Delta traded a large number of slots at Washington National (DCA) in exchange for slots US Airways held at New York LaGuardia (LGA). Regular travelers to New York City will find nearly all of US Airways nonstop flights no longer exist. It’s not just Louisville, but a large number of markets east of the Mississippi. On the flipside, many travelers are finding flights Delta operated from Washington National dropped and new flights on US Airways.

The three flights between Louisville and New York City provide well-timed access to one of the region’s top business destinations. Delta Connection carrier Chautauqua Airlines will operate the flights for Delta using 50 seat Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft.

Joe Esposito, Delta’s managing director-Domestic Network Planning, said, “Our new flight to JFK provides easy connections to flights to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. And our expanded service to LaGuardia means more options on flights to New York’s preferred airport for business travelers, as well as easy connections to destinations nationwide thanks to our new domestic hub.”

Skip Miller, Executive Director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, said, “We applaud Delta’s commitment to Louisville and their significant enhancement of service to the New York City area. With 27 daily flights to six nonstop destinations–including two major New York area airports–Delta is connecting our region to the world.”

While most passengers on the New York LaGuardia will be origin/destination, the number of new routes added by Delta at LaGuardia makes for an east-coast domestic hub where passengers can make connections.

Delta is also making significant improvements at both LaGuardia Airport and JFK airport, both outdated facilities for current needs:

• Rebuilding LaGuardia’s Central Terminal Building (LGA)
• Delta’s JFK Improvements

The primary international terminal Delta Air Lines is using at JFK is Terminal 3, Pan Am’s Iconic WorldPort, which is in a declining state and the international arrivals facility in the basement can’t handle today’s passenger traffic. The terminal is well-known with it’s design, which dates back to the golden era of aviation.

JFK Terminal 4, once complete, will handle all international flights and Terminal 3 will be razed. A walkway, behind security, is to be built between Delta Terminal 2 and the new facility in Terminal 3.

While the facilities are being upgraded, they’re still functional. At the moment, Terminal 2, 3, and 4 are in use by Delta. A bus operates airside to/from Terminal 4 so that connecting passengers do not need to re-clear security.

Louisville to New York Schedule

* Operated as Delta Connection by Chautauqua Airlines

As of August 11, Southwest Airlines will start competing with Delta on the Louisville (SDF) to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International (ATL) route.  Delta plans to keep the market primarily on mainline aircraft and in September, the Louisville to Atlanta route will be operated primarily by MD-90 equipment.