Travelers flying Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) have a new way to skip the dreaded Transportation Security Administration queues.
Beginning June 1, mobility company Landline and BOS operator Massport will open a new remote terminal in Framingham, Massachusetts — a suburb west of Boston — with hourly buses to the airport. Delta and JetBlue flyers will be able to check in, drop bags and clear TSA in the new terminal, which is in a former park-and-ride lot, before hopping on a Landline coach bus for the 45- to 60-minute ride to BOS.
The coach will drop travelers off inside security at either gate A18 in Terminal A for Delta or C8 in Terminal C for JetBlue. Checked bags will be transferred directly between planes and buses.
The new remote BOS terminal service is the latest evolution of Landline. Founded on the idea that buses could replace short-haul flights at a lower cost and connect smaller communities to major hubs, Landline has grown into an airport ground transportation network that operates both independently and as a partner to airports and airlines such as Air Canada, American Airlines and Sun Country Airlines. Its mission is to reduce some of the friction in the journey to and through a major airport.
David Sunde, CEO and co-founder of Landline, is excited about what the company’s newest offering could mean in busy metropolitan areas around the country.
“The story here is that big airports are out of space,” Sunde said in an interview. “Construction at big airports is really difficult and really expensive. Now, we have a counterpoint that is we can stand up, in six months, a facility in a parking lot, in a suburb of one of the biggest metro areas and busiest airports in the U.S. and have it screening people almost immediately.”
While the speed is impressive — Massport only unveiled plans for a remote TSA screening facility in Framingham last year — the partnership’s implications for airport access and screening are significant.
Few, if any, places in the world allow flyers to clear security remotely and ride a bus or train to the airport. Many places have, or have tried, “in-town” terminals for check-in and bag drop; however, travelers still must proceed through security checks once they reach the airport. The in-town check-in service for Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) is one of the best-known contemporary examples.
Landline worked for years to transport travelers inside security from one airport to another via bus. It took four years from its launch to implement the first “tarmac-to-tarmac” bus connectio, linking Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) in New Jersey and Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) near Allentown, Pennsylvania, with Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) in partnership with American and the TSA.
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BOS is the third major airport — after Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and PHL — where Landline brings travelers who have been screened elsewhere inside security. The company’s other operations at Denver International Airport (DEN), Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in Toronto all arrive landside (or outside security).
Landline’s new BOS service is different. The company is partnering with Massport rather than an airline, which means users do not earn loyalty points for the Landline bus portion of their rides, nor do they have connection guarantees if the bus, or their flight, is late.
“The airlines have awareness of where you are and that’s certainly a step above driving yourself to Logan,” Sunde said. Landline will communicate with Delta and JetBlue regarding who was screened in Framingham and making the journey to BOS.
The new Landline service is marketed and sold under the existing Logan Express brand rather than as a new route for an airline. Seats cost for as little as $9 one-way. Kids under 17 ride for free.
Richard Davey, the CEO of Massport, told The Boston Globe in September that the agency hopes to encourage more people to take transit to BOS rather than drive with the remote terminal.
“Part of the intent is to reduce people’s anxiety of getting to the airport,” he said. “We’re going to start small to see if we can get folks excited about it.”
Charlie Schewe, director of sales-east at Delta, described the new remote terminal as “the kind of innovation we want to be part of — elevating the journey and getting people to their destination seamlessly.”
“We’re excited to try new ways to enhance our customers’ journey by thinking outside the box and collaborating with our airport partners,” Daniel Blake, vice president of airport experience at JetBlue, said.
Delta and JetBlue, the initial airline partners for the remote terminal bus service, will together fly 51% of all seats from BOS in June, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.
Massport is planning a new Logan Express facility in the southern Boston suburb of Braintree that, if the new Landline Framingham bus is successful, could include a TSA checkpoint and serve as another remote terminal for the airport.
Sunde did not say what they consider a “success” for the new service, which replicates an existing Logan Express line.
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