AirTran Adds New Winter Service Between PIT and Florida

[CaptBud330]

Press Release Source: AirTran Airways

AirTran Airways Adds New Winter Service Between Pittsburgh and Florida
Wednesday September 19, 11:00 am ET
- Low-Fare Carrier Adds Nonstop Flights to Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa -

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI - News), today announced that it will be begin nonstop, Saturday-only flights between Pittsburgh International Airport and Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport beginning Nov. 15 and increase them to daily starting Feb. 14, 2008. The low-fare airline also will begin non-stop, Saturday-only flights between Pittsburgh and Tampa International Airport beginning Feb. 16, 2008.

"By February, the gray skies and slushy streets are enough to make anyone want to get away for a sunny vacation," said Bob Fornaro, president and COO of AirTran Airways. "AirTran Airways is pleased to offer our passengers another option for a Florida getaway, made even more convenient with online booking at airtran.com."

AirTran Airways also offers Pittsburgh residents two daily flights to Orlando and connections to 10 Florida cities through its Atlanta hub.


Nonstop Service between Pittsburgh and Ft. Lauderdale Beginning Feb. 14

From To Flight Departs Arrives Frequency
Pittsburgh Ft. Lauderdale 986 8:00 a.m. 10:37 a.m. Daily
Ft. Lauderdale Pittsburgh 987 6:09 p.m. 8:43 p.m. Daily



Nonstop Service between Pittsburgh and Tampa Beginning Feb. 16

From To Flight Departs Arrives Frequency
Pittsburgh Tampa 808 2:50 p.m. 5:15 p.m. Saturday
Tampa Pittsburgh 809 5:50 p.m. 8:15 p.m. Saturday

AirTran Airways, a Fortune 1000 company, offers more than 700 affordable, daily flights to 55 U.S. destinations. With 8,900 friendly Crew Members and America's youngest all-Boeing fleet, AirTran Airways provides XM Satellite Radio and Business Class seating on every flight. For more information and free online booking, visit airtran.com.

 

[Pacemaker]

I would say that US Airways certainly sees the market there, they just realize that they can't compete. Per 2Q 2007 BTS statistics, US Airways cost per seat mile is 16 cents vs. 9.4 for AirTran. I'm sure if they felt they could charge sufficiently high fares they'd be flying there, but the truth is US Airways east operation operates under an incredibly expensive business model and they're not going to deploy assets in a market they can't compete in against competitors they can't compete with.

 

[trvlr64]

I would say that US Airways certainly sees the market there, they just realize that they can't compete. Per 2Q 2007 BTS statistics, US Airways cost per seat mile is 16 cents vs. 9.4 for AirTran. I'm sure if they felt they could charge sufficiently high fares they'd be flying there, but the truth is US Airways east operation operates under an incredibly expensive business model and they're not going to deploy assets in a market they can't compete in against competitors they can't compete with.

US WON'T compete because they DON'T want to. US used to have direct flights to FLL from PIT. I know I flew it a lot in the 11 years of weekly travel that I used to complete out of PIT. And the flights were ALWAYS FULL !

Then some jackA$$ in Tempe decided to take away the direct flights and connect everything through PHL or CLT. And those flight times became increasingly inefficient when I had to be in FLL for work. Ingeneral most of the flights out of PIT are time inefficient.

Now that I live in FLL I'm going to be flying Airtran home to PIT as often as possible. Frequent flyer miles be damned. It's no longer about status or miles on US for me. It's about reliability. And US isn't reliable. Or cost effective and time efficient.