PWM - expanding service

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AirTran to offer service at jetport

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By EDWARD D. MURPHY, Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 27, 2007


AIRTRAN HOLDINGS INC.
HEADQUARTERS: Orlando, Fla.
HUB: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

EMPLOYEES: 7,500

DAILY FLIGHTS: 700

DESTINATIONS: 50

2005 SALES: $1.45 billion

2005 NET INCOME: $8.1 million

Sources: Hoover's, AirTran Airways
Portland has attracted a second low-fare airline, with AirTran set to announce today that it will begin service to the city in June.
The Orlando, Fla.-based airline will have three daily round trips to Baltimore-Washington International, plus Portland's first nonstop to Orlando, on Saturdays. The BWI service begins June 7 and the flights to Orlando start June 9.
"When you've got one low-cost carrier and you bring in another, it's very good for consumers," said Bill Mitchell, president of Hurley Travel Experts in Portland.
In a news release to be sent out today, the airline said its service is seasonal, but didn't say when service might stop. Airport officials said they anticipate that the service will be year-round, assuming passenger numbers support the service.
"All of our conversations with them have been based on the premise that if the numbers are there, they will continue to come," said Jeff Bourk, assistant manager of the Portland International Jetport. Bourk said AirTran often begins its service as seasonal and expands it to year-round if demand is strong.
Baltimore-Washington is a Northeast hub for the airline, which will have more than 50 destinations when it starts flying to Portland. From BWI, passengers can connect to 13 other destinations, including Atlanta -- the airline's primary hub -- Dallas/Fort Worth and several Florida cities.
AirTran's fares could force other airlines serving Portland to cut rates to the Washington region and Florida. AirTran said its lowest advance fares will be $69 to BWI and $99 to Orlando, each way. Lowest one-way walk-up fares will be $169 to BWI and $179 to Orlando, and the lowest business-class fares will be $239 to Baltimore and $339 to Florida, each way.
Mitchell said AirTran is making its announcement at a good time, given the problems experienced recently by the other low-cost carrier serving Portland.
JetBlue canceled hundreds of flights the weekend after the Valentine's Day snowstorm snarled its system. Portland was one of 11 cities where all service was canceled during the busy President's Day weekend, ruining hundreds of vacation plans.
By the time AirTran starts flying here, Mitchell said, JetBlue's problems probably will be largely forgotten. But having AirTran as a competitor might make it difficult for JetBlue to raise rates to recover losses and pay for a plan to compensate passengers in the future for cancelled or delayed flights.
"Having AirTran will keep JetBlue in check," Mitchell said. "It's a good time for them to come in."
AirTran also is seeking to expand its service nationally with a bid to buy Midwest Airlines, although the management of that airline has rebuffed its offer.
AirTran has a reputation of adding service as its passenger numbers grow, even in small markets, said Edward Faberman, executive director of the Air Carrier Association of America, an industry organization that represents low-cost carriers and airports.
Faberman said the carrier has picked relatively small markets, such as Flint, Mich., or Akron-Canton, Ohio, and begun service with a flight to one of its hub cities and Florida. If demand is high, he said, the carrier often builds that service into four or five destinations, usually including the Atlanta hub, and adds more flights to Florida.
"When people ask for more, they add service and strengthen their customer base," Faberman said.
Most of AirTran's fleet consists of Boeing 717s, which typically offer 105 coach seats and 12 business-class seats. It has also begun using Boeing 737s, which have 137 seats.
Flights to BWI will leave Portland at 6:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 4:51 p.m. and take about 1 hour and 35 minutes. Return flights, which take about 1 hour and 25 minutes, will leave BWI at 10:30 a.m., 2:51 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. The Saturday flights to Orlando will leave at 1:30 p.m. and arrive in Florida at 4:50 p.m, with flights from Orlando leaving at 9:40 a.m. and arriving in Portland at 12:55 p.m.
Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:
emurphy@pressherald.com


Reader comments




Jean of Biddeford, ME
Feb 27, 2007 8:05 AM
Excellent!


Joe_D of Alexandria, VA
Feb 27, 2007 7:41 AM
YEAH! The trip from DC just got A LOT easier! AND Cheaper!!!
Thank-you Air Tran!!!!


Martin McIntosh of Bangor, ME
Feb 27, 2007 7:14 AM
Congratulations to the good folk at the Portland International Jetport for yet another progressive expansion of airline service to and from Maine. Despite JetBlue's recent troubles, it is clear that the airline has revolutionized air service in this state. Now AirTran is entering the market, which will formally establish PWM as a major playor in the low cost carrier market. PWM is now Maine's airport of choice and is very well positioned to grow and prosper. Good job, PWM, and congratulations.


Chris VanVeen of Brookline, NH
Feb 27, 2007 6:47 AM
Having lost traffic to Manchester for years, this is very good news for Portland. I think AirTran might well be underestimating the demand for that Orlando flight. Look for it to go daily. Indeed, a better distribution of the four flights might well have been 2x each to Baltimore and Orlando rather than three and one.
 
im really really surprised that pease international is not the hub of transportation via air for northern new england. It is one hour from manchester, one hour from portland, and one hour from boston. One would think this would make it just as easy for boston passengers as is manchester. and it would make it easier for portland south. the only people things would get sticky for are those manchester people....but who cares about them :p
 
Patrick said:
im really really surprised that pease international is not the hub of transportation via air for northern new england. It is one hour from manchester, one hour from portland, and one hour from boston. One would think this would make it just as easy for boston passengers as is manchester. and it would make it easier for portland south. the only people things would get sticky for are those manchester people....but who cares about them :p
Click to expand...

It's too close to everything to be really important. There isn't much of a market left to draw from except the immediate area -- which isn't large enough to support its own airport.
 
Smuttynose said:
It's too close to everything to be really important. There isn't much of a market left to draw from except the immediate area -- which isn't large enough to support its own airport.
Click to expand...

my point exactly! the market that manchester draws on is not really the immediate area, it is a back up for Logan, and as such draws on Massachusetts and maine and VT a lot more than it draws on local residents, even though there are a lot of people around manchester.

up until manchester agreed to expand as an alternative to logan, portland's jetport handled more passengers yearly, so manchester serves primarily as a lower-hassle logan airport alternative. Now, considering that logan draws on people from all over new england, and manchester serves as an alleviation for those logan customers coming from northern new england in particular, dont you think it would have made more sense to put the "alternative to logan" in portsmouth, as this is closer to all three centers of population that manchester serves (namely, manch, portland, and boston)?

it makes more sense to me. people from north of boston, portland, and manchester are all equi-distant from portsmouth.
 
Second discount airline makes Jetport more competitive

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Thursday, March 1, 2007



The skies are getting friendlier in southern Maine.
Even an industry as highly regulated as airlines can benefit from competition, which is why the addition of JetBlue's discount passenger service (despite recent weather-related problems) was a benefit to local travelers.
Now, a second discount airline, AirTran, has announced it will commence service in June. More competition not only helps keep prices down, it increases the number of direct destinations -- and thus connection options -- available to local travelers.
For example, JetBlue flies from Portland to its hub in New York at JFK International, which has links to many destinations here and abroad.
AirTran has its hub in Atlanta and its headquarters in Orlando. It will begin service with three daily round-trip flights to Baltimore/Washington International and Saturday service to Orlando, Portland's first direct link to the home of DisneyWorld.
Since a large number of flights go south and west from BWI, that link will also create possibilities for Portland.
The competitiveness factor doesn't just include flights out of Portland. If lower-cost fares are available here, that could bring back some of the passengers now driving to Boston or Manchester, N.H. Controlling that "leakage," as local officials call it, could mean more revenues for the city.
For example, they are crediting last year's arrival of JetBlue for helping to make January a record month for passengers at the Portland Jetport.
While AirTran now says its service will be "seasonal," with its commitment expiring in November, a strong passenger response could keep the service going over the winter months.
That's the prime season for Mainers to head south, so there's a very good chance AirTran will won't be just another snowbird.
 
AirTran plans seasonal service to Portland
By Peter Smith (published: March 01, 2007)
Announcement coincides with plans to expand jetport



PORTLAND ? Discount airline AirTran announced plans Tuesday to begin service at Portland International Jetport, starting this summer.

AirTran joins JetBlue as the second discount carrier offering service to PWM. Portland Transportation Director Jeff Monroe said increased service by low-fare carriers is part of the reason the city plans to expand the jetport and, hopefully, offer an alternative to other regional airports.

AirTran?s lowest one-way advance fares will be $69 to Baltimore and $99 to Orlando, Fla. Service will begin June 7, with three daily flights to Baltimore/Washington International (BWI), the Orlando-based airline?s Northeast hub, and connecting service to 13 additional airports.

?It?s a nice ride,? John Kirby, AirTran?s director of strategic planning and scheduling, said at a jetport press conference. The airline offers business class, along with ample overhead storage and legroom, Kirby said. ?We?re the only airline with 100 percent fresh air. And we know people in Maine appreciate fresh air.?

Those coming for Maine?s salty ocean air and lobsters tend to come during the summer months and the airline said it would only offer ?seasonal service? and will not take reservations beyond Nov. 3. But, Kirby added, ?as far as the industry?s concerned, it?s year-round service.?

Whether AirTran extends its service into the winter, he said, depends on whether the airline?s 354 seats are filled daily.

AirTran?s announcement comes on the heels of trouble its rival JetBlue faced with repeated cancellations and delays, largely stemming from a Feb. 14 storm across the Northeast.

A month ago, a spokeswoman for AirTran said the airline was not interested in the Portland market. But Kirby said jetport officials have had discussions with the airline for the last six years. ?I assume they didn?t want to let the cat out of the bag,? he said.

And Kirby said JetBlue?s ongoing woes played no role in the timing. ?It?s really an evolution of our business model,? he said.

Kirby also pitched the airline?s ?American-made? Boeing 737-700 series jets, which it markets with ?You?re going to love that new plane smell.? Kirby said the planes are the industry?s quietest. ?People in the community will appreciate that,? he said.

Still, at 85 decibels, the jets are louder than a motorcycle 25 feet away. But other measures, including moving the North-South runway to reduce noise in the Stroudwater neighborhood is part of a proposal likely to go before the City Council this spring.

The Finance Committee is also expected to discuss plans a to replace the jetport?s old parking garage. The master plan calls for replacement of the 30-year-old structure and officials say more parking is needed to keep up with increasing demand at the jetport, even though the airport recorded a 3 percent decline in passengers last year.

The 1,040-space garage would cost about $36 million to build and would be paid for through jetport-specific funds. The City Council is expected to vote on whether to approve the expenditure in April, with construction beginning as early as May 2008, City Manager Joe Gray said.

Tuesday?s press conference attracted several local officials, including city councilors Ed Suslovic and Cheryl Leeman. Maine Tourism Association Executive Director Vaughn Stinson and representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Tom Allen and U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe also attended.

Peter Smith can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 126 or psmith@theforecaster.net.
 
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