LOGAN LOOKS TO POLISH ITS PEOPLE SKILLS
Traveler experience targeted
As Massport is looking into increasing the number of international and domestic flights at Logan International Airport, a three-step plan to enhance the day-to-day experience of traveling was discussed at its latest board meeting.
Remote baggage check-in, reserved parking spaces and road reconstruction around Terminals B and C, the airport’s busiest terminals, are improvements that could help the airport’s growing congestion, according to CEO Tom Glynn.
“These are three things that are examples of what Logan is doing to accommodate the growth in passengers,” Glynn said. “So, for example, on Nov. 10, we start JetBlue flights to Havana, Cuba. We start a new flight to China in January. We start a new flight to Korea, the first time ever to Korea, in April. We want to make sure that we’re managing the ground as well as we’re managing the air.”
Massport currently has four Logan Express sites — in Braintree, Framingham, Woburn and Peabody — that are big parking facilities that shuttle people outside the city directly to their terminal. Glynn says this option is very popular and that remote bag check-in will continue to grow its popularity. According to Glynn, remote baggage check-in would allow passengers at an express site to check their bags and then those bags would be taken right to the plane. This option could also become available at other remote areas such as South Station or North Station.
“This would be a big convenience for folks,” Glynn said. “It would strengthen the popularity of Logan Express.”
Reserved parking is a proposal that Glynn says will “reduce people’s anxiety” of getting to the airport and finding a parking space.
Terminal B, which is home to American Airlines and Terminal C, where JetBlue is staged, are right next to each other at the airport and, in turn, intersect and make transportation difficult. The proposed reconstruction would give Terminal B its own road that wouldn’t intersect with Terminal C.
“Basically right now, there’s only one roadway system for the departures and one roadway system for the arrivals,” Glynn said. “So, the two terminals are fighting for the arrivals road and departure road.”
He added: “It’s a big, complicated project, but we think it would be very beneficial because JetBlue is the most popular airline at the moment and the second-most popular is American Airlines and they’re right next to each other.”
The remote baggage check-ins could be the first proposal to be put into action, as Massport is putting out an RFP to firms to install them. Glynn says the reserved parking system is a little further off but could be “actualized in the spring.” The road construction would take a couple of years.