Train-to-Plane Discounts at Long Island MacArthur-Islip Airport

In a recent post, we discussed Southwest’s desired expansion into New York’s LaGuardia Airport and its current New York City Area service into Long Island MacArthur Airport, aka Islip. Here’s what we said….

As for Long Island’s Macarthur Airport(Islip), we hope that Southwest maintains its commitment there and considers adding additional capacity, and working to make intermodal transportation more efficient. Currently, a private shuttle service is offered for $5 each way, as well as LI Bus service between the airport and the Long Island Rail Road’s Ronkokoma station, where connections to other parts of Long Island and New York City are available. A ride in Manhattan takes about an hour and a half. We’d love to see Southwest partner with the LIRR and the shuttle, perhaps offering a discount on ground transportation with presentation of a Southwest ticket.

In catching up with our backlog of reading material…trolling the internet for stories of interest takes time, we found this post by USA Today‘s Today in the Sky, which reports, courtesy of AP, that the Long Island Rail Road is offering new discount fares to the airport, which range from $7 to $14 one way for adults, including rail ticket and Colonial Transportation shuttle.

For more details, check out the press release by the LIRR. We had expected Southwest to champion this, but we applaud the LIRR for taking the initiative and linking the airport to their route network with one-stop purchase. May all transportation operators, airline and ground realize the benefit of working together.