The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce board’s executive committee will discuss the situation and may contact Delta to ask it to reconsider its decision not to serve LaGuardia from Dayton, said Phil Parker, the Dayton Chamber’s president and chief executive officer.
“It’s not that JFK is a bad destination,” Parker said. “But when a lot of folks travel into New York, for many of them, their destination is LaGuardia.
“I just think that it is a mistake for Delta to not understand the needs of their customers for going into Manhattan,” he said.
Delta said it will offer three daily flights to Kennedy starting June 7 on 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet aircraft, rather than two daily flights to LaGuardia beginning on March 25. The June startup is timed to coincide with the beginning of the summer international leisure travel season.
US Airways still offers two daily flights from Dayton to LaGuardia, but plans to end that service on July 10.
Terrence G. Slaybaugh, Dayton’s director of aviation, said he also was surprised by Delta’s decision, because service to LaGuardia has been popular with Dayton travelers, particularly business passengers.
Kennedy represents a new and important connection for Dayton to an international flight hub, Slaybaugh said. Still, he plans to contact Delta to ask about its LaGuardia decision.
“I think it’s important we have service to LaGuardia,” Slaybaugh said.
Delta hopes to attract leisure travelers for its Dayton-JFK service as well as business passengers, company spokesman Trebor Banstetter said. Travelers who aren’t ending their trip in New York could connect at JFK with Delta’s international flights, he said.
“It’s a way to hit both of those markets, in terms of what people want with service to New York,” Banstetter said.
If Deltra attracts enough New York-bound travelers in Dayton, the company could consider serving LaGuardia, he said. Delta is Dayton’s busiest airline.
Delta and US Airways have been reshaping their flight schedules since December, when they concluded a transaction in which they swapped takeoff and landing slots in New York and Washington, D.C. With that deal, Delta decreased its operations at Reagan National Airport and boosted its service to LaGuardia, with the reverse effect for US Airways.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
About the Author