inflightboi175
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http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...hwest-frontier-gun-for-chicago-cancun-service
(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.”
(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.”
