Dow Jones Business News
New Pittsburgh Airline Seeks To Raise More Than $100M
Tuesday November 11, 3:16 pm ET
By Elizabeth Souder, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The new low-cost airline planning to operate out of Pittsburgh, currently known as Project Roam for lack of an official name, is attempting to raise more than $100 million to get the carrier off the ground.
Travis Tanner, chief executive of Project Roam, said Tuesday in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires that a portion of that funding is coming from local investors in the Pittsburgh area, though he wouldn't say how much, nor would he say how close he is to raising the capital he needs.
"Investment from a local community is best for a local airport," Tanner said.
Project Roam officials expect to begin flying in June, using Pittsburgh as a hub. Tanner said he plans to take off with a fleet of four or five Boeing 737- 700 airplanes. The airline will operate flights to Philadelphia, Boston, New York's La Guardia airport, Washington's Reagan National airport, and either Orlando or Fort Lauderdale. Tanner said a redeye to Los Angeles could be added soon as well.
Project Roam will compete head-to-head with US Airways Group Inc. (NasdaqNM:UAIR - News) on US Air's home turf. The network carrier operates a hub in Pittsburgh, though US Air has threatened to cut its Pittsburg operations if it doesn't reach an agreement with the airport on cutting debt.
Tanner said he has also been in "serious talks" on plane financing, and will fly to New York Tuesday for more discussions. But he said Project Roam can't nail down plane financing until it has raised the capital it needs.
Project Roam set up an e-mail site at www.project-roam.com to solicit proposals from potential suppliers and information from job seekers. On the Web site, the airline said it will contact job seekers in December about job fairs.
Chief executive Tanner said the airline may be ready to announce a name in a few weeks.
"We could have announced a name sooner, but we didn't like any of the names we came up with," he said.
-By Elizabeth Souder, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4148; [email protected]
New Pittsburgh Airline Seeks To Raise More Than $100M
Tuesday November 11, 3:16 pm ET
By Elizabeth Souder, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The new low-cost airline planning to operate out of Pittsburgh, currently known as Project Roam for lack of an official name, is attempting to raise more than $100 million to get the carrier off the ground.
Travis Tanner, chief executive of Project Roam, said Tuesday in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires that a portion of that funding is coming from local investors in the Pittsburgh area, though he wouldn't say how much, nor would he say how close he is to raising the capital he needs.
"Investment from a local community is best for a local airport," Tanner said.
Project Roam officials expect to begin flying in June, using Pittsburgh as a hub. Tanner said he plans to take off with a fleet of four or five Boeing 737- 700 airplanes. The airline will operate flights to Philadelphia, Boston, New York's La Guardia airport, Washington's Reagan National airport, and either Orlando or Fort Lauderdale. Tanner said a redeye to Los Angeles could be added soon as well.
Project Roam will compete head-to-head with US Airways Group Inc. (NasdaqNM:UAIR - News) on US Air's home turf. The network carrier operates a hub in Pittsburgh, though US Air has threatened to cut its Pittsburg operations if it doesn't reach an agreement with the airport on cutting debt.
Tanner said he has also been in "serious talks" on plane financing, and will fly to New York Tuesday for more discussions. But he said Project Roam can't nail down plane financing until it has raised the capital it needs.
Project Roam set up an e-mail site at www.project-roam.com to solicit proposals from potential suppliers and information from job seekers. On the Web site, the airline said it will contact job seekers in December about job fairs.
Chief executive Tanner said the airline may be ready to announce a name in a few weeks.
"We could have announced a name sooner, but we didn't like any of the names we came up with," he said.
-By Elizabeth Souder, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4148; [email protected]
