Delta downgrades Boston-Trenton planes
Delta Air Lines Inc. will downgrade its Boston-Trenton, N.J., service from 50-seat jets to 19-seat propeller planes Sept. 16, the airline confirmed yesterday.
The move comes seven weeks before Delta is to begin offering four daily round-trip small-jet flights from Logan International Airport to Philadelphia International Airport, about 30 miles southwest of Trenton.
Delta business partner Big Sky Airlines, which currently flies several routes out of Logan as a Delta Connection carrier, will take over the Trenton service on Sept. 17, a day after Delta subsidiary Comair stops flying the route, Delta spokeswoman Betsy E. Talton said. The move to slower planes will require "minor adjustments" to the current 85-minute schedule, Talton said, typically equalling an extra 6 or 7 minutes of flying time.
Fares on the smaller Beechcraft 1900 turboprop flights will drop to as low as $98 round-trip, Delta's website showed this afternoon, compared to current typical fares of $160 to $240.
The only other air service from metropolitan Boston to Trenton are flights from Hanscom Field in Bedford operated by Boston-Maine Airways Corp. Pan Am Clipper Connection.
(By Peter J. Howe, Globe staff)
