Jetblue following Airtran to Newburgh.... hmmm..??

[FlyAirtran]

JetBlue to Fly From Stewart in NY State
Wednesday October 25, 12:35 pm ET
JetBlue Will Fly Out of Stewart International North of New York City

NEWBURGH, N.Y. (AP) -- JetBlue Airways Corp. will begin daily nonstop flights from Stewart International Airport to Florida in December, giving another boost to officials trying to create an alternative to crowded downstate terminals.
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Daily flights from the low-fare carrier to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando will begin Dec. 19, with second flights to the two cities beginning Jan. 5, the airline announced Wednesday. A daily nonstop flight to West Palm Beach also will begin Jan. 5.
JetBlue said it will become the largest airline serving Stewart, a Hudson Valley airport 55 miles north of New York City.
The announcement comes three weeks after another low-fare carrier, AirTran Airways, said it would launch service from Stewart to Georgia and Florida beginning in January.
The recent announcements were welcomed by proponents of Stewart, who have had mixed success in marketing the former Air Force base as an alternative to the busy trio of metropolitan area airports: Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark. Local officials say Stewart is a convenient departure point for passengers living in Westchester County and points north in the Hudson Valley.
Sen. Charles Schumer said JetBlue will be a "shot in the arm" for the region, bringing new visitors and businesses.
"I have big plans for Stewart, and will continue to work to build up the airport for years to come," Schumer said in a prepared release.
National Express Group, the British company that has leased the airport from the state since 2000, is trying to sell the rights.
The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported Wednesday that though the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey passed up an invitation to bid on the remainder of the 99-year lease, some senior officials with the authority want to intervene before a new operator takes over.
Authority spokesman Marc La Vorgna told The Associated Press Wednesday that while officials believe Stewart has the potential to be an important piece of the region's "air traffic puzzle," he would not comment specifically on the lease.

 

[MD80DRVR]

Actually, it looks like Airtran will be following JetBlue. JetBlue starts service in December vs. January

 

[lowecur]

I think Jetblue is revising their target routes from the legacys to some of the smaller LCCs. Jetblue thinks they can compete very favorably with the 190/IFE against the 717. I think you are going to see Jetblue go after FL's non ATL routes very aggressively in the next few years.

It will be interesting to see if FL stays and fights. They backed off of their IAD/BOS announcement after B6 announced a few weeks later. ATL was not a good move by B6 a few years back due to their lack of network feed at that facility. I understand they still did quite well but had better opportunities elsewhere.

In any case, it will be interesting to watch as FL will have to draw the line somewhere.

imp:​

 

[Floatplane]

These flights will by operated by the A-320, just in case you missed it in the press release.

 

[LearLove]

You guys can have it. The only thing I don't miss about flying the Dash. Enjoy the overnights. 2 hotels intown/by the airport. A HoJo and a Ramada. The HoJo is a true HOjo. When we stayed there the manager/owner was in cohoots with the strip club down the street and can provide girls. The code word in the van if the big Russian guy is driving is "where can I get a good cheesburger" - apparently this lets him know you know whats up with the "operation". You'll have to compete with all the CISCO truck drivers that are the russians main clients.

You ask, "learlove, how do you know this?". Well my friend the story goes, one fine pre 9/11 day as a young ABE based Dash FO I'm waiting for the hotel van to bring us to the airport. Once we (me, FA and CA) pile into the van a paticular very religous ABE CA (went to JB now at the FAA) asks the big russian what all that noise was in the room next to him was last night. Well to our suprise he told us about a truckdriver/hooker party and you can imagine the rest. I thought the guy was joking until he ran down a list of available girls and also told us that there seems to be an ACA j-32 crew who quite often bid the stewy overnights and partake in his service. Also something about a Midway FA who works for him when she is intown (pre 9/11 Midway flew an f-100 there).

By the time we got to the airport the CA kept egging him on asking hime if his wife would allow it could he (the russian) provide 2 girls, I'm laughing my butt off (and at the same time making a mental note to have a bachelor party there if i ever get married) and the FA, your typical super religious Lehigh Valley PA Dutch raised mother was white with shock.

No sh!t about 2 weeks later I'm back in stewy and walk out of my room to meet the crew for dinner (great italian joint across from the Hojo - in the same parking lot) and here comes the russian with 2 girls intow down the hall to the far end where all the CISCO truckers stay.

 

[Jetjockey]

Service to Newburgh makes me think all the 'low hanging fruit' is depleting, and the LCCs are looking to new pastures.

 

[MRYFLYER]

SWF was a destination that all the majors flew back when it first converted. Then it went quite. Not sure what caused the downturn in the traffic. Didn't one of the commuters have mtc. base there at one time? Thought I had read that somewhere and that the place had lots of ex military facilities for those that wanted to relocate.

 

[Propblast]

seems to be an ACA j-32 crew who quite often bid the stewy overnights and partake in his service.

LOL!

 

[MD80DRVR]

Service to Newburgh makes me think all the 'low hanging fruit' is depleting, and the LCCs are looking to new pastures.

Westchester County is consistently in the top 10 for highest earnings per family in the nation. I don't think this is low hanging fruit. In the past, these people would make the trip into the city to fly. If Airtran started service out of SWF and JetBlue didn't, there is a good chance they would lose some of these premium pax. I think it's a great move to protect the turf.

 

[BoilerUP]

The Ramada in Newburgh sucks.

That big shiny Greek diner across the highway from it sure is good though, and has pretty good breakfast special on Sunday mornings. Its right beside the Hampton Inn...