Southeast Airlines goes out of business
Published December 1, 2004
LARGO - Battling high fuel costs and federal inquiries into its safety, Southeast Airlines late Tuesday announced it was going out of business.
At the company's headquarters on Belcher Road in Largo, employees said company officials told them about 9 p.m. to turn off their computers, go home and not return today.
One reservations agent, Kelly Daley of New Port Richey, said locks on doors were changed and card readers that scan employee IDs were removed. She said employees were paid on Tuesday.
About 11 p.m., the company's Web site home page was replaced with this announcement:
"Southeast Airlines has made its final landing and has ceased airline operations. We apologize for the inconvenience this will cause to our customers. This action is due in part to the unplanned and uncontrollably high cost of fuel combined with a low yield environment that makes it impossible for Southeast to continue offering low-cost air transportation.
"We sincerely thank all of our loyal employees, customers and vendors for their dedication, support and efforts."
The announcement went on to say: "Customers should refer to their Operator Participant Contracts, or contact their credit card companies, for information on how to receive refunds of their unused tickets."
Southeast, a charter carrier based at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, operated a fleet of eight aircraft: four DC-9s and four MD-80s. It served St. Petersburg; Orlando; Fort Lauderdale; Allentown, Pa.; Columbus, Ohio; Newburgh, N.Y.; and Gary, Ind.
The airline has had problems of late:
The Federal Aviation Administration proposed fining it $240,000 for safety violations that included allowing a plane to make 279 landings in a 72 days without required inspections for fuselage cracks.
The penalties, proposed last year but made public last month, involved three of Southeast's eight planes. The airline didn't comment on the specific allegations, but defended its safety record as one of the best.
Southeast this year faced legal action by two of its former pilots who claimed they were fired by the airline for refusing to breach safety regulations to keep to a flight schedule. A Southeast executive dismissed the allegations as the grumblings of "disgruntled former employees."
At the Pinellas airport late Tuesday, Southeast mechanics said they were told to remove their tools from aircraft they were working on and to leave.
Behind Southeast headquarters in Largo, a trash bin was half-filled with discarded and shredded documents that belong the airline. Several employees of the airline were standing behind the building.
One of them, Darin Forey, a reservations agent from Treasure Island, said a board inside the locked offices instructed agents to tell passengers who called in that the airplanes were being taken out of service for refurbishing.
"That's not true," Forey said. "All the bigs got together for a meeting tonight, and when they came out the computer system went dead. They had no choice but to post the fact that they were ceasing operations because everyone knew that was what was happening."
Sandy McCarty of Madeira Beach, who said she was an assistant supervisor with Southeast, said the airline was "very good at making things seem like it's business as usual when it isn't."
"They always have a story we're supposed to tell the passengers to put the best face on things," she said.
Denise Tuafono, a baggage manager for Southeast, said late Tuesday from her home in St. Petersburg that she had seen no clues the airline was about to shut down.
She said things seemed to have been going well for the company.
"That's the funny part about it," Tuafono said, "It came as a total surprise."
Times staff writer Saundra Amrhein contributed to this report.
[Last modified December 1, 2004, 00:34:19]
My thoughts and prayers are with all my friends at TEAMSEAL.
The embattled St. Petersburg-based charter airline cancels all flights, blaming fuel costs and heavy competition.
By JEAN HELLER, RON BRACKETT
Published December 1, 2004
LARGO - Battling high fuel costs and federal inquiries into its safety, Southeast Airlines late Tuesday announced it was going out of business.
At the company's headquarters on Belcher Road in Largo, employees said company officials told them about 9 p.m. to turn off their computers, go home and not return today.
One reservations agent, Kelly Daley of New Port Richey, said locks on doors were changed and card readers that scan employee IDs were removed. She said employees were paid on Tuesday.
About 11 p.m., the company's Web site home page was replaced with this announcement:
"Southeast Airlines has made its final landing and has ceased airline operations. We apologize for the inconvenience this will cause to our customers. This action is due in part to the unplanned and uncontrollably high cost of fuel combined with a low yield environment that makes it impossible for Southeast to continue offering low-cost air transportation.
"We sincerely thank all of our loyal employees, customers and vendors for their dedication, support and efforts."
The announcement went on to say: "Customers should refer to their Operator Participant Contracts, or contact their credit card companies, for information on how to receive refunds of their unused tickets."
Southeast, a charter carrier based at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, operated a fleet of eight aircraft: four DC-9s and four MD-80s. It served St. Petersburg; Orlando; Fort Lauderdale; Allentown, Pa.; Columbus, Ohio; Newburgh, N.Y.; and Gary, Ind.
The airline has had problems of late:
The Federal Aviation Administration proposed fining it $240,000 for safety violations that included allowing a plane to make 279 landings in a 72 days without required inspections for fuselage cracks.
The penalties, proposed last year but made public last month, involved three of Southeast's eight planes. The airline didn't comment on the specific allegations, but defended its safety record as one of the best.
Southeast this year faced legal action by two of its former pilots who claimed they were fired by the airline for refusing to breach safety regulations to keep to a flight schedule. A Southeast executive dismissed the allegations as the grumblings of "disgruntled former employees."
At the Pinellas airport late Tuesday, Southeast mechanics said they were told to remove their tools from aircraft they were working on and to leave.
Behind Southeast headquarters in Largo, a trash bin was half-filled with discarded and shredded documents that belong the airline. Several employees of the airline were standing behind the building.
One of them, Darin Forey, a reservations agent from Treasure Island, said a board inside the locked offices instructed agents to tell passengers who called in that the airplanes were being taken out of service for refurbishing.
"That's not true," Forey said. "All the bigs got together for a meeting tonight, and when they came out the computer system went dead. They had no choice but to post the fact that they were ceasing operations because everyone knew that was what was happening."
Sandy McCarty of Madeira Beach, who said she was an assistant supervisor with Southeast, said the airline was "very good at making things seem like it's business as usual when it isn't."
"They always have a story we're supposed to tell the passengers to put the best face on things," she said.
Denise Tuafono, a baggage manager for Southeast, said late Tuesday from her home in St. Petersburg that she had seen no clues the airline was about to shut down.
She said things seemed to have been going well for the company.
"That's the funny part about it," Tuafono said, "It came as a total surprise."
Times staff writer Saundra Amrhein contributed to this report.
[Last modified December 1, 2004, 00:34:19]
My thoughts and prayers are with all my friends at TEAMSEAL.
