CoATP
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Hawaiian Airlines is charging that startup carrier go!, a Mesa Air Group subsidiary, is trying to drive competitors out of business in the Hawaii market. Mesa counters that go!'s smaller share of the overall market in Hawaii means that its impact cannot be as consequential as Hawaiian claims. "If it wasn't clear to everyone before, it should be now that Mesa is trying to eliminate competition in Hawaii," wrote Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Mark Dunkerley in a statement issued Sept. 22. "Evidence of Mesa's true motives was revealed in court last week, and while Mesa has done much in the news media to obscure that evidence, they didn't refute it in court."
Hawaiian and Mesa are locked in a legal battle that began last February when Hawaiian filed suit claiming Mesa used proprietary information to bolster its startup proposal for go! (ATWOnline, Feb.15). Mesa filed a countersuit charging Hawaiian with violating antitrust laws. Mesa had access to confidential information when it expressed an interest in acquiring Hawaiian more than two years ago at a time when that carrier was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Last week, go! inflamed matters by offering $19 fares for some of its inter-island travel, but other fares are priced as high as $79. The Mesa subsidiary operates four 50-seat CRJ200s.
"How do you put someone out of business with less capacity? We can't put them out of business with only 8% of the market," Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein told ATWOnline. "We are trying to carve a niche. They added more capacity than we have." Ornstein said he intends to add five or six larger aircraft, either Embraer 195s or CRJ900s, to the market next year. He said the go! subsidiary is modeled after highly successful LCC Ryanair. "There is a business model that says you can give away tickets and still make money," he said.
Hawaiian and Mesa are locked in a legal battle that began last February when Hawaiian filed suit claiming Mesa used proprietary information to bolster its startup proposal for go! (ATWOnline, Feb.15). Mesa filed a countersuit charging Hawaiian with violating antitrust laws. Mesa had access to confidential information when it expressed an interest in acquiring Hawaiian more than two years ago at a time when that carrier was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Last week, go! inflamed matters by offering $19 fares for some of its inter-island travel, but other fares are priced as high as $79. The Mesa subsidiary operates four 50-seat CRJ200s.
"How do you put someone out of business with less capacity? We can't put them out of business with only 8% of the market," Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein told ATWOnline. "We are trying to carve a niche. They added more capacity than we have." Ornstein said he intends to add five or six larger aircraft, either Embraer 195s or CRJ900s, to the market next year. He said the go! subsidiary is modeled after highly successful LCC Ryanair. "There is a business model that says you can give away tickets and still make money," he said.
