Delta Air Lines made this announcement about New York City:

It’s been more than a year since COVID-19 brought New York City to a halt. Now, with vaccination rates on the rise and capacity restrictions for most public gathering spots lifting on May 19, the Big Apple is taking major steps toward recovery – and no airline is more ready than Delta to welcome customers back. Beginning this summer, the airline will operate more than 300 total daily departures from its hubs at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) and LaGuardia Airport (LGA) – more than any other airline*.

Delta’s domestic and international schedule at New York-JFK has rebounded significantly in 2021, with reinstated service to seven domestic markets including Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas/Ft., Worth, Texas; Cincinnati, Ohio; Indianapolis, Ind.; and Washington-Dulles, Va., all resuming within the past month. The airline also restarted flights from JFK to Iceland’s Keflavik International Airport on May 1.

Following the recent lift of entry restrictions into Italy, Delta will operate COVID-tested flights from JFK daily to Milan; three times per week to Rome, increasing to daily July 1; and daily to Venice beginning July 2. Daily nonstop flights to Athens, Greece, will resume May 28, and new nonstop service four times per week from JFK to Dubrovnik, Croatia, will begin July 2 for fully vaccinated travelers or customers who meet testing requirements. This is the first time Delta will operate flights to Croatia.

At New York-LGA, Delta will be the first airline to reinstate service to a number of key business markets including recently added Louisville, Ky. and Milwaukee, Wis. and growing to include Greensboro, N.C., Greenville, S.C., Omaha, Neb., and Birmingham, Ala. in June. New twice-daily flights to Toronto, Canada, will commence Aug. 5, with plans to boost to six times per day this fall as travel restrictions lift and transborder demand returns.

The future of travel through NYC 

While the pandemic may have slowed travel, Delta’s work on major infrastructure projects in New York and elsewhere around the U.S. has sped up. At New York-LGA, construction on Delta’s brand-new, state-of-the-art terminal has progressed so quickly that the new arrivals and departures hall, the new roadway network and the second concourse will now open to customers next spring, followed by half of the third concourse next summer. This acceleration will now see the entire four-concourse terminal fully complete by the end of 2024, eighteen months earlier than originally planned.

A reimagined JFK is not far behind, as Delta recently agreed to revised plans with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and JFK International Air Terminal, the operator of JFK Terminal 4, to expand Terminal 4 and consolidate Delta’s operations there – a key step in the transformation of Delta’s global gateway at that airport.

*Based on May and June 2021 flights scheduled to depart JFK, LGA, and EWR, including flights operated by regional carriers. 

Top Copyright Photo: Delta Air Lines Airbus A220-100 (CS100 BD-500-1A10) N124DU (msn 50043) IAD (Brian McDonough). Image: 950567.

Delta aircraft slide show: