adambisi

Get ready for a battle in BOS.

B6 is getting the C gates from UA. There's nowhere left to logically expand except extra capacity on current routes or MSP/CVG/ATL/SLC/CLE. There's a lot of DL cities on that list

This may force DL to respond with grabbing some of the PMCO gates and start more BOS-Florida, BOS-DCA and probably a couple of Caribbean routes - most likely AUA but would not be surprised to see SJU. SFO is also a possibility as well. Spirit is also rumored to move their entire operation to MIA so the ULCC could be off of BOS-FLL soon which may make BOS-FLL yield better.

If there is expansion, I would love to see an Asian route (PVG or ICN) but wouldn't hold my breath.

Also, Sun Country is moving from E to A but that is 1-2 BOS-MSP flights a day.

clr4t8koff

Is WN staying put in E? I could definitely see B6 making a push for those gates for their international flights.

jrkmsp

Good news that Sun Country is moving to A, I guess. I loathe flying them, because they're so unreliable, but sometimes when they're $200 cheaper than Delta, it's much better than connecting.

cfischer

with the poor reliability of JFK there is definitely a possibility of seeing more TATL service from BOS in the future. Yield from Boston has been good for Delta despite LCC competition; wouldn't be surprised to see further expansion.

CDKing

B6 wants a whole terminal to themselves. I don't see them moving out of C. Part of the deal with starting their Worcester service was getting a terminal to themselves at BOS plus some other concessions.

baccarat_king

Why? International flights can depart from any terminal at BOS. Unless an airline is 100% located at E; then inbound connecting still requires a change in terminals. So an inbound B6 international would have to arrive and E, and still connect the to "main" B6 terminal (which is unlikely to change) at terminal C.

All customs/immigration takes place at terminal E.

Historically, it was a decent setup for NW (back in the day) since they arrived and departed from E.

Delta currently has their international (AMS, LHR etc.) depart from terminal A; but the arrivals are at terminal E and they "shuttle" the jet back to terminal A. Unfortunate, since AFAIK, terminal A is equipped to handle customs/immigration if they desired to start processing folks at terminal A.

adambisi

Also - Three of B6's destinations preclear customs: AUA, BDA and NAS. One of their SDQ flights and the STI flight is a red-eye south bound and arrives very early north-bound beating any international rush.

pbarnette

I think there are lots of opportunities for B6 beyond just DL routes. And they have shown zero interest in MSP to date and ran from ATL with their tail between their legs. Both MSP and ATL also already have two incumbents operating the route. Things would get very crowded, very quickly for B6. SLC, on the other hand, does seem like a B6 route.

I could see SFO. Maybe a weekly AUA flight. But BOS-Florida isn't terribly high-yielding at this point. BOS-DCA would require slots at DCA and the yields are garbage.

Hainan starts service to PEK in June. Plus you have JL to NRT. As far as PVG or ICN, the problem would seem to be that there aren't many airlines with an interest in those routes that have the right equipment.

One article I read said that WN was one of the targets of Massport to move to A.

With regards to B6, Massport has already approved a plan to connect C and E post-security and to renovate E, so B6 could have a good setup for their limited international flights and for what connecting feed they get from the likes of EK. Massport is also rumored to be eager to get WN out of E to maximize the international capacity. Of course, they could probably achieve the same maximization by fitting out A to handle arrivals but rumor has it that the CBP doesn't think that efficient use of manpower, plus Massport works for B6, not DL and connecting E to C and giving the former WN gates to B6 fits that strategy.

rylan

Oh god I sure hope not... security can be enough of a zoo there now.

bk42

Originally Massport had dictated the single-terminal policy, with CBP on board, in justifying the Terminal E revamp (and thus terminal size.) Obviously BOS is doing a lot better these days with international service, and E will probably need another bump in size over the next decade. So while Delta, along with Air France, Alitalia and Virgin, could probably justify it's own CBP on Terminal A, the cost to retrofit and staff A is probably not something either Delta or Massport want to pay. But you never know.

The situation is very similar to O'Hare and Terminal 5, which is also now pretty full.

ceamus1

Ramona is my hero at DL. You can not show up to the SC for months and she still remembers you and where you were going and asks how your trip was. She and employees like her is the reason I'm so loyal to Delta. (And trying hard to continue being so now that I've relocated to IAH/HOU).

adambisi

There were two or three incumbents when BOS-SFO/LAX was started.

B6 was a different airline when they first entered ATL. They can't ignore the 9th largest metro and 11th largest CSA in the USA much longer.



The purpose of additional BOS-Florida would be to hurt B6. A couple of BOS-TPA's on E175's and keeping BOS-PBI year round wouldn't be surprising as a response to BOS/JFK-ATL/MSP/CVG



Hainan will strongly stimulate China originating tourist traffic and I'm not sure how much business traffic they will grab out of BOS. They have very few non-Chinese connections that can be made with the BOS flight.

JL has horrible connections with the exception of Japan, Korea, Taiwan,and HKG.

KE will get 789's in a couple of years so BOS could be in play then.

Could DL run BOS-PVG and feed its Skyteam member China Eastern though if they were to get Jet Airways 77L's? The front of the plane would do well on the route.

The only wildcard is CX - they are rumored to be starting HKG-BOS in 2015.

N639DL

I could see DL/AF/AZ and Massport coming in on some sort of deal to expand A and add CBP. Not just for CBP but to add 2-3 more gates that would have CBP and can fit the bigger planes without having to take another gate out of service. The cargo area across from B18 or so could get knocked down. That would be enough for 3 gates that could handle up to a 744 IMO. It would be a good thing for all parties as that

-opens up more depth at Terminal E during the afternoon/evening rush for int'l arrivals and departures
-DL will no longer have to unload and tow their planes to A (during the summer it's 2 daily to LHR, 2 to AMS, and 1 to CDG)
-AF and AZ as SkyTeam partners will be in the same terminal with DL

Only other issue I could see would be counter space.


DL has since reclaimed A5 and A6. Those gates are being used for regular domestic departures. A4 is also in the mix with domestic departures too, although A3 and A4 are mainly the shuttle flights to LGA. Those 2 gates are definitely helping out with the early morning rush. They have new flights to LAS, 2x to LAX, PBI is on seasonal, FLL is returning on seasonal December 20th, and PLS is Saturday seasonal too (that flight to PLS is actually filling up)

radiowell

http://news.delta.com/index.php?s=20309&cat=3191

With the impending CX service to HKG, AA/OW now has TPAC "monopoly" with JL and CX.

(Not to mention AA has more nonstops to LAX than DL).

I guess DL does have a few TATL plus some RJ flights. Is DL battling B6?

rylan

Certainly not a hub that I'm aware of, but it is a focus city. There are minimal connection routes through BOS, just the few tatl flights which most pax from outside the area would fly direct or connect to MSP/JFK/ATL anyway.