Order announcement Tuesday at 10:00am

gr8slvrflt

Member
Aug 21, 2002
34
0
www.usaviation.com
Employees have been asked to meet at the Atrium in Atlanta tomorrow at 10:00 am for the announcement:

Dow Jones Business News
Boeing Likely to Obtain 100-Plane Order From AirTran
Monday June 30, 5:22 pm ET
By J. Lynn Lunsford and Nicole Harris, Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal


DALLAS -- Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA - News) has emerged as the likely winner in a competition to snag a 100-airplane order from AirTran Airways .

According to people familiar with the deal, Boeing edged out rival Airbus to supply the rapidly growing low-cost carrier with 100 of its single-aisle Boeing 737s that the airline plans to use for longer-haul routes.

The deal is worth about $6 billion at list prices. It includes 50 firm orders for 737-700s and 737-800s, as well as options for another 50 more.

Spokesmen for the airline and the manufacturers declined to comment on the pending decision. AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson said the carrier''s board of directors was meeting to finalize the decision Monday night in preparation for a Tuesday announcement in Atlanta.

The order is expected to be one of the biggest of the year and was considered by both Boeing and Airbus to be a must-win.

For Boeing, it meant retaining its position as the sole supplier for AirTran. Airbus, on the other hand, was hoping to make serious inroads into another low- cost carrier in the U.S. So far, JetBlue Airways Corp. (NasdaqNM:JBLU - News) is the only low- cost carrier in the U.S. to fly a fleet of Airbus A320s; the rest rely on the Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - News) model of operating Boeing''s workhorse 737s.

Mr. Hutcheson said AirTran planned to add longer-haul planes to its fleet in order to compete more effectively against other carriers. We need to be able to fly anywhere we want to go ... we need the flexibility of the range and we need additional capacity, he added.

For AirTran, the new jets will further the discount carrier''s growth strategy, helping it to compete vigorously with rivals Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL - News) and other low-fare carriers such as Southwest Airlines.

AirTran needs the bigger jets to operate longer-haul routes such as coast-to- coast flying. The carrier recently launched service from its Atlanta hub to West Coast cities such as Denver, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. But the carrier''s Boeing 717s, with about 117 seats, can''t fly such long routes. AirTran, is currently leasing two Airbus 320 jets from Wichita, Kansas-based Ryan International Airlines to operate flights between Los Angeles and Atlanta.

AirTran is one of the few U.S. carriers making money. The airline is benefiting from its lower costs as well as consumers eager to purchase cheaper plane tickets amid a slow economy.

The company posted first-quarter net income of $2 million, or three cents a share, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $3 million, or four cents a share. Revenue jumped 31% to $208 million from $159.3 million.

-By J. Lynn Lunsford and Nicole Harris; The Wall Street Journal; 214-951-7113
 
----------------
On 7/1/2003 10:34:47 AM FA Mikey wrote:

Airtran will be flying just the 2 A/C types 717 and 737 after the A320 lease is up? Do they still have the DC9's?

----------------​

An ever-dwindling few. The last of the old "Critter" -9s are due for retirement in the fall.
 
The new order is for -700s. However, any order can be changed to a -800 with 15 months notice. They expect to take a plane a month.
 
----------------
On 7/1/2003 10:34:47 AM FA Mikey wrote:

Airtran will be flying just the 2 A/C types 717 and 737 after the A320 lease is up? Do they still have the DC9''s?

----------------​

AirTran isn''t really leasing the A320s--they are operated by Ryan International. I''m not pointing that out to be nit-picky, but just to mention that they haven''t undertaken the costs (maintenance, spares, training, etc.) usually associated with adding (and then getting rid of) an additional fleet type, even through a traditional lease. The arrangement is more like the relationships between the majors and their regional partners, with the a/c painted in the colors of the "major" (in this case AirTran), and the flights sold only under the code of the major.

I think it was a pretty intelligent way for AirTran to start flying out west--and, more important, build name recognition there--in a hurry, without taking the degree of risk that such an expansion would otherwise entail (even if it was done somewhat out of necessity, due to JetBlue''s arrival in ATL!). This way, by the time the 737s start arriving next year, they should already be pretty well established on the west coast. Although I expect the 737s will also come in handy on routes to Florida and the Northeast that are already getting too big for the 717.