Westward expansion?

[lowfareair]

CEO Joe Leonard has said that they are planning to do more East-West flying from North-South flying. This was the day before they announced MCI service. Anybody want to speculate what he means by it?
My guess is that OKC/TUL and AUS/SAT will be announced next year. COS in 04.

 

[GrahamAF]

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On 8/20/2002 4:46:33 PM

CEO Joe Leonard has said that they are planning to do more East-West flying from North-South flying. This was the day before they announced MCI service. Anybody want to speculate what he means by it?

My guess is that OKC/TUL and AUS/SAT will be announced next year. COS in 04.
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Watch Out Cali!

 

[PLANES333]

I read in aviation daily that Air Tran was in talks with boeing and airbus about introducing a larger longer range aircraft to expand into the west. I guess that answers your question!!!!

 

[dfw79]

OKC likely won't happen for a couple years until the new terminal is completed. At this time all gates are now going to be full with Frontier coming in (supposedly ground handled by Continental, only airline with an available gate). TUL won't favorably welcome a new low fare airline in that could compete against their own Great Plains. I would favor Texas more so over any Oklahoma destination...simply due to room and the financial investment they have made in their own airline (Great Plains).

 

[gr8slvrflt]

My thought is that East-West is more likely to be between cities we currently serve rather than new ones out West. I've heard BWI to MDW, MSP, CAK and DFW. BWI seems to finally have their act together and US is dropping down to only six flights a day there! Joe has been pretty adamant about a one-type fleet so its looks like more 717s. I still think a -300 is possible down the road.

 

[funguy2]

I would have to think COS is on the short-term list, not the long term list... Why?

1) No LUV... at least not yet.
2) No low fare service east, since Vanguard shut down.
3) Ability to poach from the DEN market.

Why go up against LUV at SAT, AUS, OKC, or TUL, when you can be the only low-fare (eastbound, anyway) game in town at COS. OK, COS-ATL is probably a stretch for the 717, but I bet AirTran can make a go of it using some combo of the following:

COS-ICT-ATL
COS-MCI-ATL(or MCO?)
COS-DFW-ATL
COS-MDW

Just my guess of course.

 

[gr8slvrflt]

With extra tanks, COS, LAS, DEN, etc. should be no problem for the 717s. I think more substantial snacks are possible as long as they continue to be pre-packaged requiring no refrigeration. Adding catering and/or food storage and preparation would really raise costs. The key to AirTran's continued success is not growth, service enhancements or fleet commonality but keeping costs down.

 

[lowfareair]

If COS-ATL is started, I think it will become time for FL to start serving something a tad more filling, like a regular cookie, or granola bar, as people will only take so many Biscoff's.

 

[phllax]

I might be thinking of Midway 1, but didn't ValuJet serve LAS with the MD-80's they had before they were shut down?

 

[gr8slvrflt]

No, not ValuJet. Maybe Midway I, they did have MD-80s.

 

[mga707]

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On 8/21/2002 8:42:27 PM

No, not ValuJet. Maybe Midway I, they did have MD-80s.
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Yes Midway I did indeed serve LAS, from MDW.
Midway II also served LAS at one time, from RDU, with A320s.

 

[gr8slvrflt]

Believe it or not, a second beverage service is required on longer flights but seldom done. Most of us just ask if folks would care for anything else while picking up trash. Don't ever hesitate to ask for something or even ring the call bell....that's what it is there for.

 

[lowfareair]

My idea of a more filling snack would be something such as Entenmann's products up front(IIRC, the nutrigrain twists bar in morning biz class is Entenmann's), and either Nutrigrain bars and/or Little Debbie snacks in back.

One more thing that would be nice, and fairly cheap to do, is offer a second drink service before landing on routes over 800-1000 miles. Even something similar to DL's FastBreak service could really improve AAI's reputation.

 

[lownslow]

This is a bit of a side note, and probably won't result in any expansion, but American Eagle just announce that they will pull their service to BMI - American Connection is staying, but not increasing their presence.

A little less competition for Airtran....

 

[LoneStarMike]

"Why go up against LUV at SAT, AUS, OKC, or TUL, when you can be the only low-fare (eastbound, anyway) game in town at COS. OK, COS-ATL is probably a stretch for the 717..."

Well, SAT AUS, OKC, and TUL are definitely not a stretch for the 717, plus even though LUV serves all those cities, Air Tran can connect those cities to other cities LUV doesn't serve, like ATL, BOS, ROC, CAK, DAY, PHL, IAD, GSO, SAV, RSW, etc.

Air Tran serves HOU, where LUV is the big dog. How is Air Tran doing there?

LoneStarMike