Long Island MacArthur Airport welcomes JetBlue, flights to Florida

LONG ISLAND - Wheels up at Long Island’s MacArthur Airport as JetBlue Airways plans to settle down. 

On Tuesday, the airline announced the launch of nonstop service to and from three Florida destinations. Come October, JetBlue, said to be the sixth largest airline in the country, will become the fourth airline flying out of the Town of Islip-owned airport. 

They’ll join Southwest and ultra-low-cost carriers Breeze and Frontier with daily flights between Islip and Orlando and offer four round-trip flights weekly to West Palm Beach as well as Fort Lauderdale. 

"Now with everything going on with the NYC airports, it’s huge," said Town of Islip supervisor, Angie Carpenter. 

"We have over one million passengers that come in and out of our airport every year and we have an economic impact of about $600 million a year as well," said Shelley LaRose Arken, who is the Commissioner of Aviation at Long Island MacArthur Airport. 

Officials call the news a win for Long Islanders in need of jobs and for loyal customers who won’t have to travel farther west to LaGuardia or JFK. 

The JetBlue addition comes as part of more than $100 million in major upgrades and capital projects at the airport since 2016.

Another proposal is on the table to build a walkway connecting the terminal to Ronkonkoma's LIRR station.

"Is it a good thing, yes," said economist Dr. Martin Cantor. "It depends on the pricing to see if they can survive doing it." 

TSA just brought its newest credential authentication technology to the airport. It allows agents to confirm a traveler’s ID and their flight info in real-time.