Cmdr Taggart
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- Jun 26, 2002
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Former America West chief plans low-fare airline at Pittsburgh
Former America West Airlines chairman Edward Beauvais, who found that carrier 20 years ago, said last week he is planning to start up a new low-fare airline based at Pittsburgh International Airport. It doesn't have a name yet--he's calling it Project Roam--but Beauvais said he expects the airline to start flying by June 2004, initially operating to Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando and other Florida destinations, using two-class 737-700s. The new airline would start with a fleet of eight planes and grow within five years to more than 120 flights a day serving 39 destinations.
Beauvais said his airline would charge fares as low as $49 to destinations in the eastern U.S. and $99 on the west coast. President and CEO of the company is Travis Tanner, a longtime travel industry and travel agency executive. Beauvais said the Pittsburgh region has been "denied the benefits of competition" for too long, and his new airline aims to change that. As we reported last week, Pittsburgh hub carrier US Airways has been in tough negotiations with the local airport authority in an effort to reduce the costs of its gate leases there, and has even threatened to abandon Pittsburgh as a hub.
However, the new airline is not a done deal. Beauvais still needs to line up enough financing to get it started, and needs to obtain FAA certification--something that often takes 12 to 24 months
Former America West Airlines chairman Edward Beauvais, who found that carrier 20 years ago, said last week he is planning to start up a new low-fare airline based at Pittsburgh International Airport. It doesn't have a name yet--he's calling it Project Roam--but Beauvais said he expects the airline to start flying by June 2004, initially operating to Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando and other Florida destinations, using two-class 737-700s. The new airline would start with a fleet of eight planes and grow within five years to more than 120 flights a day serving 39 destinations.
Beauvais said his airline would charge fares as low as $49 to destinations in the eastern U.S. and $99 on the west coast. President and CEO of the company is Travis Tanner, a longtime travel industry and travel agency executive. Beauvais said the Pittsburgh region has been "denied the benefits of competition" for too long, and his new airline aims to change that. As we reported last week, Pittsburgh hub carrier US Airways has been in tough negotiations with the local airport authority in an effort to reduce the costs of its gate leases there, and has even threatened to abandon Pittsburgh as a hub.
However, the new airline is not a done deal. Beauvais still needs to line up enough financing to get it started, and needs to obtain FAA certification--something that often takes 12 to 24 months
