Logan passenger volume nearly at pre-9/11 level

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks sent the US aviation industry into a tailspin, Logan International Airport officials have longed to have travel finally recover to pre-9/11 levels.

And if just four more passengers had taken off or landed at Logan every day last year, 2006 would have marked the year business finally recovered from 9/11.

As it turned out, passenger counts last year at Logan fell 0.005 percent short of the 2000 record. A total of 27,725,443 passengers used Logan in the year ended Dec. 31, according to Massachusetts Port Authority data released yesterday. That was 1,390 fewer than in 2000.

Logan spokesman Phil Orlandella attributed the volume to several factors: continued strong demand for travel, increased service by low-cost carriers at Logan, better parking, an increase in the number of nonstop destinations from Logan to 78 domestically and 33 internationally, and the public's faith in airport security.

Passenger volume was up 2.4 percent compared to 2005, even as total flights at the airport fell 1 percent. Reflecting airlines' success in running the fullest flights they can -- by reducing frequency and shifting to smaller aircraft -- Logan last year had virtually the same number of passengers as in 2000 but with 16.7 percent fewer total flights. Logan had 406,119 takeoffs and landings last year, compared to 487,996 in 2000.

"It's like the old beer commercial, 'Tastes great, less filling.' We can tell the community: more passengers, less flights," Orlandella said.

Separately yesterday, Massport also tapped acting aviation director Edward C. Freni to become director and operating chief of Logan. Freni took the place of then-aviation chief Thomas J. Kinton Jr. when Kinton succeeded Craig P. Coy as Massport chief executive last August.

Massport board member Paul D. Foster said the authority used a nationwide aviation executive recruiting firm and considered 25 candidates from around the country for Freni's job, narrowing it to him and two other finalists Foster wouldn't name.

Kinton said although Freni has been with Massport since 2000, he spent 23 years as an executive at American Airlines before that, giving him broad industry experience.

Freni said he envisions no big changes other than "looking for ways to make the traveling experience easier and much more convenient and considerate," including better security, technology, and customer service.

Freni inherits the challenges of juggling gate assignments, finding better space for fast-growing AirTran Airways, and recruiting other airlines to use Delta Air Lines Inc.'s half-empty $500 million Terminal A.

Peter J. Howe can be reached at howe@globe.com.