Trans States

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TWAB717

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Oct 19, 2002
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American unit sells 14 jets to Trans States
Cynthia Wilson
Of the Post-Dispatch
Trans States Airlines has begun taking delivery of 14 regional jets from American Eagle Airlines, a subsidiary of AMR Corp.
A spokesman for Trans States said the 50-seat Embraer 145 jets will provide feeder service to the American Airlines hub at Lambert Field. He added that the additional jets might provide job opportunities for furloughed American Airlines pilots, including some based here.
American Airlines also is owned by AMR Corp.
Trans States began taking delivery of the jets this month and is using three on routes between Lambert and Moline, Ill., and Charlotte, N.C., said William Mishk, a company spokesman.
Charlotte is a new route for the St. Louis-based regional carrier, which hadn''t offered jet service for American Airlines for more than a year.
American Eagle, which also provides regional service for American Airlines, said it is selling the small jets to comply with American Airlines'' contract with the Allied Pilots Association. The price tag on the 14 planes hasn''t been made public.
The contract with the Allied Pilots limits the size and number of regional jets that can be used to support the nation''s largest carrier. The contract also limits the number of regional aircraft that American Airlines can fly under its flight-schedule code.
As a result, Trans States will operate the aircraft it is buying from American Eagle under another code and fly them under the AmericanConnection brand. Passenger bookings, however, will continue to be made through American Airlines.
The APA said the union believes the sale of jets to Trans States won''t help American Airlines to meet its contractual obligations to the union. Nor will American Eagle''s plan to sell Executive Airlines to businessman Joaquin Bolivar of Puerto Rico, said Gregg Overman, an APA
spokesman.
Overman said the union contends it doesn''t matter who provides the regional service if it exceeds the amount allowed by the contract.
Since taking control of some American Eagle jets, Trans States has hired some furloughed American Airlines pilots, Mishk said. He said the company will continue to give preferential interviewing to laid-off American Airlines pilots as Trans States expands its business with the addition of the American Eagle jets.
Besides American Airlines in the Midwest, Trans States provides regional service for US Airways Group Inc. on the East Coast. The company employs more than 1,200 people.
 
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On 11/16/2002 10:50:32 PM grndproxwarning wrote:

Funny,
a little birdie told me they were selling them because
they needed the CASH...

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That little bird better get its tweeter checked. This has everything to do with American butting up against the ASM cap with American Eagle because of the addition of the 70-seaters (DFW Boise sure racks up a lot of ASM's with those 70-seat jets). That and the Executive sale are putting the squeeze on the pilots to ease up on the cap.

Peace!
 
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