Delta Says 1960s JFK Terminal Offers Third World Conditions

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Delta Air Lines Inc. must upgrade its 1960s-era terminal at New York’s Kennedy airport to win more higher-fare international business travelers, an executive said.

Delta is working to compete for New York corporate fliers with American Airlines, United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc., Treasurer Paul Jacobson said today. Kennedy’s Terminal 3 is known for its saucer-shaped roof and was dubbed Worldport.

“Customers equate that to a third-world country, and I think they’re right,” Jacobson said today at a conference in New York hosted by Airfinance Journal. “We’ve got to improve facilities at JFK.”

Delta has considered razing Terminal 3 and building a new one. The airline’s investments at John F. Kennedy International Airport total more than $70 million over the past four years, and talks continue on a “long-term facility solution” with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said Leslie Parker, a Delta spokeswoman.

The agency is working with many airlines to overhaul facilities, according to Aviation Director Susan Baer. “We are in discussions with Delta, and we share their view that their customers deserve better,” Baer said through a spokesman.

Jacobson said Atlanta-based Delta is “aggressively targeting” corporate travelers by installing more lie-flat seats on international wide-body jets and adding new routes. Spending on fleet improvements will be $1 billion over the next three years, Delta has said.

AMR Corp.’s American, UAL Corp.’s United and Continental have been “dominant in the corporate travel market a long time and have built up a lot of loyalty” in New York, Jacobson said.

Delta is also trying to build New York’s LaGuardia airport into a hub for domestic flights through a proposed swap of takeoff and landing slots with US Airways Group Inc.

Under the plan, which is being reviewed by the U.S. Transportation Department, Delta wants to acquire 110 slot pairs at LaGuardia from US Airways, in exchange for 37 of its pairs at Washington’s Reagan National airport.

BusinessWeek

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