AirTran, Frontier to battle it out for Chicago-Cancun rights

[labbats]

The other day Frontier was ferrying a plane from midway to ord and the tower guy asked them if this was a regularly scheduled flight now. The frontier guys said yes, they are now ferrying over to ord to do some apple vacation charter flights out of ord on a regular basis.

Great idea. Worked like a charm for Eagle doing DFW-DAL. Oh wait... no it didn't.

 

[Captain Morgan]

I wish you guys the best of luck. Since your at Frontier, how/why do see why Bedford wants that route. Do you think it is because it would be one more asset to sell?

Who knows, maybe, except it's just a contracted route on behalf of Apple. I suppose everything has its price though.

 

[Captain Morgan]

The other day Frontier was ferrying a plane from midway to ord and the tower guy asked them if this was a regularly scheduled flight now. The frontier guys said yes, they are now ferrying over to ord to do some apple vacation charter flights out of ord on a regular basis.

He was probably just kidding. My bid packet only shows limo rides between the two airports.

 

[SKC]

I used to fly that route - ORD-CUN/other Caribbean destinations - for Ryan International when they had the Apple Vacations contract. We flew those routes with 178/180 seat A320s. We also originated flights out of MSP and some Wisconsin airports for Apple.
The A320s were flown in the UK during the summer and the US during the winter. The planes were UK registry for a low cost carrier over there. Needless to say, 180 seat A320s were NOT designed with the average Wisconsin cheesehead in mind.
I remember one flight where the FA called us and said that she couldn't get the drink cart through the aisle because we had a 'person of size' in an aisle seat - he had raised his aisle armrest and had one cheek on the seat and another in the aisle. The flight was ~6 hours long and there were no empty seats.

Ah, those were the days. Were you there still when an ACA-MSP was running late and the "boys" in ACA wouldn't let the a/c depart until they were paid some "OT"? Crew couldn't get to an ATM at that time and they had to pass the hat around the cabin. Heidi (I think) had to meet the flight with a wad of cash to pay the psgrs back. Good times.

 

[inflightboi175]

(Crain's) — If Mayor Rahm Emanuel has his way, Chicagoans looking for a winter break in balmy Cancun soon will be able to fly there non-stop from Midway International Airport.

Southwest Airlines Co. has lined up the mayor, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago, City Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce behind its bid to provide daily direct flights between Midway and the Mexican resort island, using its wholly owned subsidiary, AirTran Airways Inc.

It would be Midway's first non-stop service to the popular vacation destination and a sign that Dallas-based Southwest, Midway's dominant airline, is intent on expanding from its strictly domestic business model into international markets.

“We all know they've been getting ready,” said Darryl Jenkins, an independent aviation consultant in Marshall, Va. “I guess this is the signal that it's time to start playing. Southwest will bring an awful lot of resources to bear on this.”

But the U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday launched a full-blown review of a competing bid from Denver-based Frontier Airlines Inc., which wants to provide service from O'Hare International Airport as a low-fare alternative to existing Cancun non-stops on United Airlines and American Airlines.

Southwest “doesn't provide the competitive oomph that a low-fare scheduled provider would offer at O'Hare,” said Robert Cohn, an attorney in Washington, D.C., who represents Frontier. “Politically, it's an uphill battle, but substantively, Frontier has a better case.”

Under an aviation agreement with Mexico, only three U.S. airlines are allowed to serve the Chicago-Cancun market, so any changes need federal approval, which is usually routine except for the most coveted routes.

The Chicago-Cancun rights were put up for grabs when Apple Vacations, a discount tour provider based in Newtown Square, Pa., decided to switch airlines, dropping its sister company USA 3000 Airlines, a Philadelphia-based charter operator, in favor of Frontier, which offered to provide service with newer planes, starting Jan. 31. Apple and USA 3000 did not return calls seeking comment.

Frontier originally got approval from AirTran and other airlines late last year to take over the Cancun route, but Southwest soon intervened, saying that the letter requesting approval had gone to AirTran's former counsel by mistake. AirTran was acquired by Southwest last May, but their operations are still not fully integrated.

United, a subsidiary of Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc., carried about a third of the nearly 190,000 passengers who flew between Chicago and Cancun last year. USA 3000 and American each had about 25% marketshares, with two Mexican airlines accounting for the rest, according to masFlight Aviation Data provided by Marks Systems Inc., an aviation consulting firm in Bethesda, Md.

The Department of Transportation will award the Cancun route after determining which carrier would provide the most benefits to the flying public, in terms of competition, safety and the ability to sustain traffic on the route. It's unclear what would happen to Apple's charter flights if Southwest wins rights to the route.

“I believe that the daily, year-round non-stop scheduled service proposed by AirTran offers the most sustainable option,” said the mayor's letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a close friend of Mr. Emanuel's since they served together in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2000s.

Southwest declined to comment, but in its filings it argues that Frontier, which currently has only one flight to Midway from Denver, would not have any traffic feeding into O'Hare to support the route. Frontier argues that it would provide larger planes, thus more seats and more competition, in a market where most travelers to Cancun are from the immediate area, making feeder traffic a non-issue.

“I can see both sides,” said Susan Coty, owner of Chicago-based Travel Brokers Inc., which books “thousands” of clients to Mexico annually. But “I'd be thrilled to fly out of Midway to Cancun. It's a lot easier to navigate.”



Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...-gun-for-chicago-cancun-service#ixzz1jDbXtrbd
Stay on top of Chicago business with our free daily e-newsletters

 

[Andy]

Ah, those were the days. Were you there still when an ACA-MSP was running late and the "boys" in ACA wouldn't let the a/c depart until they were paid some "OT"? Crew couldn't get to an ATM at that time and they had to pass the hat around the cabin. Heidi (I think) had to meet the flight with a wad of cash to pay the psgrs back. Good times.

LOL. I wasn't at the company when that happened but it sounds typical.

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

Frontier doesn't go to ORD, only MDW from DEN. And they do a lot of CUN flights from other cities, like SLC on Saturdays, MCI, etc.


Godspeed!


The OYSter

Do some homework before you make a comment. I'm a controller at ORD and F9 has been flying into ORD for about a month now.

 

[Ky.BrownBourbn]

Southwest “doesn't provide the competitive oomph that a low-fare scheduled provider would offer at O'Hare,” said Robert Cohn, an attorney in Washington, D.C., who represents Frontier. “Politically, it's an uphill battle, but substantively, Frontier has a better case.”

Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...-gun-for-chicago-cancun-service#ixzz1jDbXtrbd
Stay on top of Chicago business with our free daily e-newsletters

Love the Lawyer Speak...

"Southwest doesn't provide the competitive oomph" (I know he says O'Hare!)

“Politically, it's an uphill battle, but substantively, Frontier has a better case.”

All I hear is BLAH, BLAh, BLAH...of course I'll take your money, Blah, blah, blah.

Lawyer's kill me!
KBB

 

[IAHERJ]

(Crain's) — If Mayor Rahm Emanuel has his way, Chicagoans looking for a winter break in balmy Cancun soon will be able to fly there non-stop from Midway International Airport.

Southwest Airlines Co. has lined up the mayor, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago, City Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce behind its bid to provide daily direct flights between Midway and the Mexican resort island, using its wholly owned subsidiary, AirTran Airways Inc.

It would be Midway's first non-stop service to the popular vacation destination and a sign that Dallas-based Southwest, Midway's dominant airline, is intent on expanding from its strictly domestic business model into international markets.

“We all know they've been getting ready,” said Darryl Jenkins, an independent aviation consultant in Marshall, Va. “I guess this is the signal that it's time to start playing. Southwest will bring an awful lot of resources to bear on this.”

But the U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday launched a full-blown review of a competing bid from Denver-based Frontier Airlines Inc., which wants to provide service from O'Hare International Airport as a low-fare alternative to existing Cancun non-stops on United Airlines and American Airlines.

Southwest “doesn't provide the competitive oomph that a low-fare scheduled provider would offer at O'Hare,” said Robert Cohn, an attorney in Washington, D.C., who represents Frontier. “Politically, it's an uphill battle, but substantively, Frontier has a better case.”

Under an aviation agreement with Mexico, only three U.S. airlines are allowed to serve the Chicago-Cancun market, so any changes need federal approval, which is usually routine except for the most coveted routes.

The Chicago-Cancun rights were put up for grabs when Apple Vacations, a discount tour provider based in Newtown Square, Pa., decided to switch airlines, dropping its sister company USA 3000 Airlines, a Philadelphia-based charter operator, in favor of Frontier, which offered to provide service with newer planes, starting Jan. 31. Apple and USA 3000 did not return calls seeking comment.

Frontier originally got approval from AirTran and other airlines late last year to take over the Cancun route, but Southwest soon intervened, saying that the letter requesting approval had gone to AirTran's former counsel by mistake. AirTran was acquired by Southwest last May, but their operations are still not fully integrated.

United, a subsidiary of Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc., carried about a third of the nearly 190,000 passengers who flew between Chicago and Cancun last year. USA 3000 and American each had about 25% marketshares, with two Mexican airlines accounting for the rest, according to masFlight Aviation Data provided by Marks Systems Inc., an aviation consulting firm in Bethesda, Md.

The Department of Transportation will award the Cancun route after determining which carrier would provide the most benefits to the flying public, in terms of competition, safety and the ability to sustain traffic on the route. It's unclear what would happen to Apple's charter flights if Southwest wins rights to the route.

“I believe that the daily, year-round non-stop scheduled service proposed by AirTran offers the most sustainable option,” said the mayor's letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a close friend of Mr. Emanuel's since they served together in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2000s.

Southwest declined to comment, but in its filings it argues that Frontier, which currently has only one flight to Midway from Denver, would not have any traffic feeding into O'Hare to support the route. Frontier argues that it would provide larger planes, thus more seats and more competition, in a market where most travelers to Cancun are from the immediate area, making feeder traffic a non-issue.

“I can see both sides,” said Susan Coty, owner of Chicago-based Travel Brokers Inc., which books “thousands” of clients to Mexico annually. But “I'd be thrilled to fly out of Midway to Cancun. It's a lot easier to navigate.”



Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...-gun-for-chicago-cancun-service#ixzz1jDbXtrbd
Stay on top of Chicago business with our free daily e-newsletters

Geez, reading this article you would think this was a flight to China or something. Cancun is just another "domestic" destination for most airlines and served by everyone who is capable of flying airplanes. What is the big deal here? Nobody makes much money flying there but we have to fly there(and just about every other resort city) so our business passengers can cash in their miles and take the family somewhere once a year. If I were Southwest, I'd let Frontier have it.

 

[$$$4nothin]

This post should be named SouthWest, RAH to battle it out. Now that being said. HAHAHA. Good luck RAH