Logan flights for Southwest unlikely any time soon
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce hosted a "special forum" this morning featuring Southwest Airlines Co.'s chief executive Gary Kelly, but the discount carrier's head honcho didn't arrive with special news for Boston's Logan International Airport.
Kelly kicked off his speech by almost apologizing and then preempting the inevitable question.
"I know that we serve the other airports," he told the 110 attendees, alluding to Manchester's Boston Regional Airport, Providence's T.F. Green Airport, and Hartford/Springfield's Bradley International Airport.
As to when the nation's largest low-fare airline will fly out of Logan, that's likely to happen "maybe one of these days," he said.
With the nation on the cusp of a recession and the airline industry battered by surging fuel prices, it's tough to branch out to new markets, he said.
On top of that, Logan's terminal rents and landing fees still make the airport's operating costs higher than Southwest's systemwide average of $5 to $6 per passenger.
Still, Kelly said, "We'll continue to take a very hard look at serving Boston Logan."
The rare public appearance of such a high-ranking Southwest executive in Boston had gotten people's hopes up in recent weeks.
Kelly said he makes an annual pilgrimage here to speak to university students and the financial sector, but even the chief executive of the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, could not recall a Southwest official of this stature addressing Boston's broader business community before.
"It may be a prelude to things," said Massport's chief executive Thomas J. Kinton Jr. after shaking Kelly's hand at forum's conclusion.
(By Nicole C. Wong, Globe staff)
