blzr
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2002
- Posts
- 1,502
Spirit Airlines to purchase Airbus jets
Larger, fuel-saving fleet could keep fares down
March 19, 2004
BY RAJIV VYAS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Spirit Airlines said it will place an order today for 35 jets from Airbus Industrie for about $2 billion with an option to buy 60 more. The total deal is valued at about $5 billion.
The deal could have major implications for Detroit travelers. New planes would allow Spirit to add domestic and international routes, including some from Metro Airport.
This is the single-biggest plane order placed by Spirit, Detroit Metro's biggest low-fare carrier.
The 124-passenger Airbus A319 and 220-passenger A321 would replace Spirit's entire fleet of 32 Boeing 150-passenger MD-80s.
Spirit will buy an equal number of A319 and A321 planes, spokeswoman Laura Bennett said. The first plane is expected to arrive in March 2005 with the remaining spread through the next five years.
The order comes less than a month after Spirit raised $125 million from Los Angeles-based private equity fund Oaktree Capital Management LLC to expand its flights and routes and to update its fleet.
"Spirit already has one of the lowest costs of operation in the airline industry, and the new Airbus aircraft, which are technologically advanced and fuel-efficient, will assure our continued leadership," Jacob Schorr, chief executive officer of Miramar, Fla.-based Spirit, said in a statement.
Spirit has 115 daily flights, 20 to 25 of them from Detroit. Spirit had said earlier it wants to have at least 200 daily flights within five years with 40 to 50 from Detroit.
"Clearly, this has been in the works for many months," said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of Business Travel Coalition, a lobby for business travelers. "There is a very determined and thought-out strategy to expand and grow."
The new planes give Spirit the ammunition to fight larger airlines like Northwest Airlines, Mitchell said.
Spirit recently got approval to fly to 11 countries: Aruba, the Bahamas, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Panama.Metro Airport is expected to get some of those international flights.
Bennett said the planes would have two-class seating: Spirit Plus and regular economy class.
The Airbus 320 family of aircraft is popular with low-fare carriers like Spirit. JetBlue Airways flies the A320s and its costs are among the lowest in the industry.
The new planes would help Spirit lower its costs further, Mitchell said.
Contact RAJIV VYAS at 313-222-8760 or [email protected].
Larger, fuel-saving fleet could keep fares down
March 19, 2004
BY RAJIV VYAS
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Spirit Airlines said it will place an order today for 35 jets from Airbus Industrie for about $2 billion with an option to buy 60 more. The total deal is valued at about $5 billion.
The deal could have major implications for Detroit travelers. New planes would allow Spirit to add domestic and international routes, including some from Metro Airport.
This is the single-biggest plane order placed by Spirit, Detroit Metro's biggest low-fare carrier.
The 124-passenger Airbus A319 and 220-passenger A321 would replace Spirit's entire fleet of 32 Boeing 150-passenger MD-80s.
Spirit will buy an equal number of A319 and A321 planes, spokeswoman Laura Bennett said. The first plane is expected to arrive in March 2005 with the remaining spread through the next five years.
The order comes less than a month after Spirit raised $125 million from Los Angeles-based private equity fund Oaktree Capital Management LLC to expand its flights and routes and to update its fleet.
"Spirit already has one of the lowest costs of operation in the airline industry, and the new Airbus aircraft, which are technologically advanced and fuel-efficient, will assure our continued leadership," Jacob Schorr, chief executive officer of Miramar, Fla.-based Spirit, said in a statement.
Spirit has 115 daily flights, 20 to 25 of them from Detroit. Spirit had said earlier it wants to have at least 200 daily flights within five years with 40 to 50 from Detroit.
"Clearly, this has been in the works for many months," said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of Business Travel Coalition, a lobby for business travelers. "There is a very determined and thought-out strategy to expand and grow."
The new planes give Spirit the ammunition to fight larger airlines like Northwest Airlines, Mitchell said.
Spirit recently got approval to fly to 11 countries: Aruba, the Bahamas, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Panama.Metro Airport is expected to get some of those international flights.
Bennett said the planes would have two-class seating: Spirit Plus and regular economy class.
The Airbus 320 family of aircraft is popular with low-fare carriers like Spirit. JetBlue Airways flies the A320s and its costs are among the lowest in the industry.
The new planes would help Spirit lower its costs further, Mitchell said.
Contact RAJIV VYAS at 313-222-8760 or [email protected].
I don't think a delta pilot could afford that but thats how I measure compensation.
