Logan Airport's newest airline is already looking at expanding its service here
Jon ChestoManaging Editor, Print- Boston Business Journal
The newest airline to touch down at Logan Airport might seem strangely familiar to travelers who flew frequently in the 1980s.
People Express — or, as the airline calls itself, PEOPLExpress — is back.
This isn’t the same discount carrier that flew out of Newark International Airport during the Reagan era, expanded quickly and eventually needed to land into the arms of Continental Airlines.
But its new owners certainly are hoping to capitalize on some name recognition by launching a new airline this year with the same brand. The new airline is based out of Newport News, Va., and its first flights began a month ago, after substantive delays, to three cities: Boston, Pittsburgh, and the old People Express’ home base of Newark, N.J. The flights here are taking place on Boeing 737 jets, with 136 seats. People Express currently leases the jets from Vision Airlines, which is also providing the crews.
“All three (airports) have exceeded our expectations, with Boston leading the pack,” People Express CEO Jeff Erickson tells me. “We’re quite a bit ahead of plan.”
Erickson says the daily flights between Logan Airport’s Terminal E and the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport are doing so well, the company is already considering adding additional service to the route. The move would in part be aimed at offering connecting flights for New Englanders who want to travel to some of the airline’s other destinations in the South: The company starting flying into West Palm Beach, Fla., a couple weeks ago and service to Atlanta starts Friday. At the end of August, People Express will also be flying three times a week to St. Petersburg and New Orleans.
The return of People Express has been promoted in Virginia, but not so much in Massachusetts, at least not yet. Erickson says the marketing efforts may eventually broaden to include other regions but he didn’t give me a timetable for when that would happen.
Erickson says the rights to People Express were apparently allowed to expire a couple years ago, so the new owners picked them up without having to buy them from another airline.
But if People Express takes off, Erickson and his team should probably give more credit to Southwest Airlines than to People Express’ corporate namesake from the ‘80s. That’s because the new People Express has been launched to fill the gap that was left when AirTran’s service ended to the Hampton Roads region as a result of Southwest’s acquisition of that airline.
“All of AirTran’s service out of Newport News ended two years ago when Southwest took them over,” Erickson says. “We’re simply looking to take advantage of that.”
