AirTran and Mesa Hooking Up??

[flyinryanbgsu]

Heard from an ex-coworker in ATL today that FL is announcing they are picking up 25 RJs to be flown by Mesa Airlines by mid November. I heard they were going to use 6 gates in Concourse D. Is this true? If so, what routes are the RJs going to fly??
Ry

 

[gr8slvrflt]

Cool! I've been hearing such rumors for awhile. ASA watch out!

 

[wscrj]

Wow, I'd heard they were talking to us about some turboprop flying, but jets is a new word. I'd think if it's true they'd be ERJ's (we have 64 options), since the CRJ's we have are all being used with HP. We do have CRJ-700's coming at about 1 a month, and -900's in Jan. will make it about 2.5 a month, but again, they are slated for HP.

Interesting times....

 

[airplt]

From what I understand the 50 seat CRJ seating configuration is already in the reservations computer. We have a scope clause that limits the seats to 70 so the 90 seat CRJ will never fly here at AirTran. There is also a limit to the amount of flying a regional can do for us.

 

[DLFlyer31]

It's not Mesa....but Air Wisconsin instead.

RJ service starts Nov. 15. All mainline on ATL-SAV will be replaced with RJ's, 1 mainline ATL-PNS will be replaced by two RJs and 1 mainline ATL-GSO will be replaced by two RJs.

You know things are bad when even the low-fare carriers are downgrading mainline to RJ's. It ought to be interesting to see if this works.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020926/262351_1.html

 

[Capecod]

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 2002--AirTran Airways, a
subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AAI - News), today
announced that the low-fare airline will launch a new regional jet
operation, AirTran JetConnect, on November 15. AirTran JetConnect,
operated by Air Wisconsin, will fly CRJ regional jets in short-haul
markets to and from the airline's hub at Hartsfield Atlanta
International Airport.
Operated with the popular 50-seat CRJ regional jets made by
Bombardier of Montreal, Quebec, AirTran JetConnect will initially
serve several cities from its Atlanta hub - Greensboro, N.C.,
Pensacola, Fla., and Savannah, Ga. - all of which are currently
served by AirTran Airways. In addition, AirTran JetConnect will
allow the airline to expand into other short-haul markets as well as
increase frequencies in underserved markets -- resulting in a
stronger catchment area for AirTran Airways' Atlanta hub.

Developing a regional partner to feed AirTran Airways has been our
goal for some time, and we are pleased to introduce the AirTran
JetConnect service to extend our brand of low fares and quality
service, stated Robert L. Fornaro, AirTran Airways' president and
chief operating officer. With the launch of AirTran JetConnect, we
will also be able to redeploy our Boeing 717s to increase
frequencies in longer haul, more profitable markets and facilitate
growth in larger markets we do not currently serve. In addition, we
look forward to our partnership with Air Wisconsin, a company
recognized throughout the industry for its high quality and
reliability.

 

[weatherman]

The new commuter service is pricing out at least $30 above regular AirTran fares to these three cities. Do they need to charge this additional fare to break even with the smaller jets? I don't think people will be willing to pay extra to fly on the smaller jets. They will continue to fly regular AirTran jets for lower fares.

 

[dfw79]

[blockquote]
----------------
On 9/27/2002 917 PM weatherman wrote:

The new commuter service is pricing out at least $30 above regular AirTran fares to these three cities. Do they need to charge this additional fare to break even with the smaller jets? I don't think people will be willing to pay extra to fly on the smaller jets. They will continue to fly regular AirTran jets for lower fares.
----------------
[/blockquote]

The whole point of JetConnect is people AREN'T flying the regular AirTran jets (or not enough people at the higher fares). CASMs are higher on RJs. However if you put them in a market that is running 70% load factors, losing money...you can now offer 50 seats to the original market pulling in around 70 people, charge a slightly higher fare to reduce the demand to just those people that will pay it -- and you are in business (ok, that was extremely simplified, you get my point).

On a side note, looking at toledoexpress.com at Toledo's airport website -- there is a poll up there currently on if people would fly AirTran if JetConnect came in. It is split 50/50 between Yes and No. The No's are all coming under They left before why should I support them again. Not everyone is going to like the downgrading to RJs, but in this economy -- you should be grateful to get the air service you do.

 

[weatherman]

Looks like MKE will be the next city to see regional jets. One of the three flights will be switched to the smaller aircraft.

 

[gr8slvrflt]

RJ maintenance will be done in Milwaukee.