American Airlines to add Kennedy, LaGuardia flights

In a major expansion of its New York operations, American Airlines plans to add 23 more flights to and from Kennedy and LaGuardia and has pledged more than $30 million in terminal improvements at both airports.

The airline Wednesday also announced two new partnerships: American will offer JetBlue passengers connections to American's international flights in and out of New York and Boston, and American will launch a marketing campaign with NYC & Company, the New York City official marketing, tourism and partnership organization.

The campaign will bring new visitors to New York and encourage them to stop over and stay, officials said Wednesday.

"It is hard to overstate the importance of the New York region to our future success," American's chief executive, Gerard Arpey, wrote in a message to employees. "We are in a tough, important fight in New York - a fight we intend to win."

American is undertaking a two-year renovation project for LaGuardia's Concourse D, with new ceilings, lighting, flooring, wall panels and flight information displays; once it is completed, the airline plans similar improvements on Concourse C.

It also is renovating its Admiral Clubs at both Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.

Together with its sister carrier, American Eagle, American has so far this year announced a total of 31 new flights and 13 additional routes to and from the two New York airports to take effect by the end of this year.

To offer the new New York flights, American will trade takeoff and landing slots it has elsewhere. It will transfer eight slot pairs at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., and one slot pair at Westchester Airport in White Plains, to JetBlue. JetBlue, in turn, will transfer 12 slot pairs at Kennedy to American. A slot is an interval of time during which an airline can take off or land its aircraft at an airport.

JetBlue plans to launch service at Reagan National in November. The airline, based in Forest Hills, said it will initially offer at least eight daily departures from Reagan to East Coast cities. The routes have not yet been finalized.

US Airways, meanwhile, is still awaiting Department of Transportation approval to offer shuttle service from Reagan to Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip.