overlooking Boston skyline.
Convenience, Southwest seen as key despite Logan’s improved access
News that Boston Big Dig officials recently opened a new tunnel directly into Logan Airport, cutting travel time by about half an hour, might lead one to think that the faster travel for drivers coming from the south might hurt business at T.F. Green Airport in Rhode Island.
Not so fast.
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In fact, Rhode Island’s regional airport will not lose many travelers to a more accessible Logan Airport, say several industry experts, travel agents and officials for both airports. When choosing an airport, travelers care about more than just 30 minutes saved en route, say the experts. Overall, the big picture is that Green is still the more convenient, less stressful airport.
“It’s simplistic to think that Green is in trouble because it’s now quicker to get to Logan,” said Bob Hazel, vice president and managing director of GCW Consulting. “Logan will be more convenient to access, but it’s still not anywhere as convenient as T.F. Green. There are still parking issues at Logan, and Green is still much easier to get in and out of.”
GCW Consulting, based in Virginia, does strategic work for airlines and airports throughout the world. Hazel, who heads the firm’s airport consulting practice, is a former vice president at US Airways, where he was in charge of all airport issues.
As Boston’s Central Artery Tunnel Project nears completion, the completion of the new tunnel under the harbor allows drivers coming from Massachusetts’ southern shore and Rhode Island to travel more directly to Logan International Airport. This direct, 3.5-mile route to the airport is expected to save drivers as much as 45 minutes off the current route, according to Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials.
Massachusetts officials are relieved that help has come for their beleaguered airport, which has been making headlines for years for its congestion, flight delays, security gaffs and highly public expansion controversy.
On Jan. 24, when a host of Massachusetts politicians and bureaucrats unveiled the highway signs that now direct drivers from the new I-93 northbound ramp toward Logan, they trumpeted that fact that that the main beneficiaries of the new ramp will be South Shore commuters heading toward the airport.
“This is a significant improvement for South Shore drivers,” said Joseph Sullivan, chairman of the Massachusetts House Transportation Committee.
But while the pols were waxing eloquent, an official at Logan Airport downplayed the idea that Logan will begin to steal market share from T.F. Green.
“I don’t think we’re expecting an increased number of passengers,” said Jose Juves, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns and operates Logan Airport. “There’s a whole variety of factors that go into passengers’ decisions, and many of them are airline driven as opposed to airport driven. It can depend on anything from whether someone’s a frequent flier with a particular airline, to frequency of flights, to whether they can find a direct connection.”
In particular, the presence of Southwest Airlines at T.F. Green will continue to draw loyal customers to the Rhode Island airport, said several experts. Perhaps even more important than travel time for air travelers choosing which airport they’ll use, is the airline they want to travel with, air-travel experts said.
And Green’s major airline, the low-fare carrier Southwest Airlines, is the hottest carrier in the business with a devoted customer base. But Southwest Airlines does not fly out of Logan Airport.
“Southwest has kept fares so low … that most of the people we work with have a preference to come into Providence. If they have a choice between Boston and Providence, they always choose Providence,” said Maryann Sasso, a corporate-client travel agent for Pearson Travel & Cruise Center in Providence, which also caters to clients in southeastern Massachusetts.
When contacted for this report, an official at T.F. Green Airport dismissed the notion that a new tunnel into Logan Airport could give Logan the upper hand in the battle for customers.
“We know that there will be some who will go back to Logan. But there are so many people who prefer Green, and we would expect that we would retain a good portion of those people,” said Patti Goldstein, a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, which owns and manages T.F. Green. “We’re in the know as to what’s happening and we knew that this would happen at some point in time.
“But we haven’t done any study of the matter. It wasn’t to a point where we’ve put together a contingency plan. I wouldn’t call it concern. We still have good air service here,” she added.
