JetBlue CEO David Barger really knows how to kill the buzz in a room.
At the ribbon-cutting for the discount airline’s new Long Island City headquarters this week, Barger essentially squashed hopes the airline would expand service to Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip anytime soon.
The problem is aircraft, as in not enough of them.
Because JetBlue won several additional flight slots at LaGuardia Airport in November, and will fly 16 daily roundtrip flights out of the Queens airport starting in June, the number of jets it has available to add more routes and airports has dwindled.
“I don’t believe we’ll do it in 2012, and even 2013 is difficult,” he said when asked about MacArthur’s chances.
Translation: Slim and slimmer.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer has led a concerted push to get the airline to Long Island, including conducting a personal tour of the facility. A group of local radio stations and print publications had also offered the airline $100,000 in free advertising if agreed to fly out of Islip.
With JetBlue out of the picture, the Long Island Association and local shipping firm Purolator International have asked Air Canada to reconsider Long Island to Toronto round-trip service.
Two senior Air Canada officials toured the airport in October with Commissioner Teresa Rizzuto and then-Islip Town Supervisor Phil Nolan. The airport has capacity for the addition, but no formal discussions have taken place yet.
