Delta Air Lines is the latest airline to announce it is adding service at Worcester Regional Airport.Direct flights to and from Detroit will start next August. JetBlue has been offering daily flights between Worcester and multiple locations for five years. American Airlines will start offering flights to and from Philadelphia beginning in October. Delta Air Lines is the latest airline to announce it is adding service at Worcester Regional Airport. Direct flights to and from Detroit will start next August. Advertisement JetBlue has been offering daily flights between Worcester and multiple locations for five years. American Airlines will start offering flights to and from Philadelphia beginning in October.<doc-sep>WORCESTER Delta Air Lines is coming to Worcester Regional Airport, offering flights to and from Detroit beginning in August 2019, officials announced Tuesday morning. “If you build it, they will come — they’re here,” said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito in announcing the flights. “Delta to Detroit sounds pretty good to me.” Officials said the details of the flights — the scheduled departure and arrival times, the type of aircraft that will be flying, and the ticket prices — still have to be worked out. However, the announcement was hailed by officials as the latest sign of Worcester’s — and the airport’s — revitalization. “It feels like ‘Groundhog Day:’ We’re here periodically and regularly announcing things,” said Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis, chairman of the Massport board. “There are a tremendous string of great announcements coming out of Worcester.” The announcement will mark the second airline added to Worcester Regional Airport this year. American Airlines Inc. and Massport, which owns and operates the airport, announced this spring that the airport would host daily flights to and from Philadelphia beginning in October. A second daily flight was added in June. In February 2017, JetBlue announced that it would begin flights to and from New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Those flights began in May. JetBlue already offers flight between Worcester and Orlando, Florida, and Worcester and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It also marks a bit of a homecoming for Delta; from 1971 to 1980, Delta had flights in and out of the city. City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. noted that in the last 10 days the city had announced the Pawtucket Red Sox are moving to Worcester and had broken ground on the first of two new high schools. He added that the city will also be hosting the lieutenant governor again on Thursday for the ribbon cutting for a $12 million renovation of Main Street. “We’re cooking on all burners here,” Mr. Augustus said. The airport is part of that revitalization. U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, noted that at one point, people were considering replacing the vacant Worcester Regional Airport with houses or a casino. But locals fought to rebuild service to the airport. Massport took over ownership in 2010 and committed to investing $100 million in the airport in 10 years. Now the airport hosts three major airlines. “This city and this region is on the rise, and this announcement today is indication that this is a fact,” Mr. McGovern said. “This airport is taking off. ... All the hard work, all the planning, and all the investments paid off.” Ravi Dadhich, Delta Air Lines corporate director of airport operations in Boston, said Detroit will offer 134 connections to passengers, including flights to London, Paris, and throughout Asia. “This partnership ... connects customers throughout Worcester with the world,” Mr. Dadhich said. And as the ceremony ended after the Delta ticket counter had been unveiled, Massport CEO Thomas P. Glynn had one more task to do. “It’s my responsibility to say: Bring on the Motown,” he said.<doc-sep>
Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special to USA TODAY Delta Air Lines will begin serving Worcester Regional Airport in central Massachusetts, adding nonstop service to its hub in Detroit next year. Flights are slated to begin in August 2019. Details, including aircraft type, price and schedule, have yet to be decided. The service will open to 134 destinations for connections. “Delta to Detroit sounds pretty good to me," Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said in announcing the flights, according to MassLive.com. Delta last ran service to Worcester from 2000 to 2002, regional Delta Connection flights to New York’s JFK Airport. TODAY IN THE SKY: Worcester thinks big with new JetBlue route to New York JFK | JetBlue's 80th destination is ... Worcester, Mass. Delta left, along with a handful of other small carriers, leaving Worcester to cycle through a handful of short-lived misadventures in airline service for the next decade. An Atlantic City casino charter fared slightly better, managing to stay afloat from 2008 to 2012. An air service revival began with the arrival of JetBlue in 2013, when the carrier added routes to Florida. Service to JFK – JetBlue's busiest hub – was added last year, opening dozens of connecting options for Worcester fliers. Worcester's fortunes got another boost this year when the world's biggest airline announced its intention to fly from the airport. American's flights to Philadelphia are scheduled to begin in October. TODAY IN THE SKY: August route roundup: Where airlines are adding (or cutting) service TODAY IN THE SKY: Delta shows off first Boeing 777 retrofitted with new cabin interior