PITTSBURGH New discount airline to start service in June

The new carrier will help if US Airways closes its Pittsburgh hub.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A new discount airline will begin servicing nine destinations from Pittsburgh International Airport in June, with plans to expand to 39 destinations -- and to hire 2,100 employees -- within five years, officials, including the founder of America West Airlines, announced Tuesday.
The announcement -- made by Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey, former America West and Western Pacific airlines Chief Executive Officer Edward Beauvais, and other officials -- appears to at least partly answer questions about how the county would replace US Airways if the Arlington, Va.-based airline eventually pulls its hub from Pittsburgh, as it has threatened to do since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March.
While Allegheny County Airport Authority board Chairman Glenn Mahone called the new low-fare airline "the perfect antidote for the anxiety that this region has been experiencing," Roddey said the new airline, which has not been named but has a working title of "Project Roam," will be good for western Pennsylvania whether or not US Airways keeps its hub here. Roddey said the market needs more competition.
"This is good news for Pittsburgh and as far as US Airways is concerned, this plan was modeled as if US Airways will stand and fight. And if they do anything less than that, this plan would accelerate," Roddey said.
President, CEO
Beauvais is leading the effort to start the new airline and he introduced Travis Tanner, who has 30 years of experience in the travel and leisure industries, as Project Roam's president and chief executive officer.
Beauvais and others would not answer specific questions regarding the airline's finances, citing Securities and Exchange Commission rules, but did say no public financing would be used to start the airline. Any incentives offered to this airline would be offered to other airlines at the airport, including US Airways, Roddey said.
Officials plan to start operating by the second quarter of 2004 and will start the process to obtain certification from the Federal Aviation Association this week.
The airline will eventually offer fares as low as $49 for one-way trips to destinations such as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and $99 for one-way trips to places such as Las Vegas and Dallas, officials said.
Emphasis on service
Tanner said the airline's focus on customer service will set it apart from others. The airline will exclusively fly Boeing 737-700 aircraft, which will seat a dozen in business class and 114 in coach class. Each flight, no matter how short, will offer in-flight entertainment such as television, video games and pay-per-view movies.
"This is going to be an airplane where people are going to get on and say, 'This is built for someone who likes to fly or doesn't like to fly but has to,"' Tanner said.
The airline will primarily cut costs by flying just one type of aircraft, Tanner said.
The Boeing 737 owns a 92 percent share of the discount airline market, said Bradley Till, the Boeing Co.'s regional director of product marketing of commercial aircraft. Low-fare airlines like to use the aircraft in part because it can fly short and long distances, he said.