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CAA: Airport News, "Start-up DC Air thought to have atypical advantages"
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
Start-up DC Air thought to have atypical advantages
By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (May 24, 2000) - Start-up airlines usually take flight on a wing
and a prayer, with passengers flying old jets out of second-class airports
without amenities like big frequent-flier programs. But DC Air boasts a
different pedigree that points to success.
By spinning the new airline out of the United Airlines-US Airways merger
announced Wednesday, Robert L. Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment
Television, stands to get a ready-made carrier that can clear many of those
obstacles.
Although Johnson's airline experience is limited to serving on the US
Airways board since 1998, he is poised to become head of the nation's only
black-owned major commercial carrier.
He brushed aside questions about his limited experience.
"I have no doubt in my mind that I can find the talent to run a very
successful airline much as I found the talent to run a successful cable
programming business," Johnson said by telephone from a private jet that had
been held at New York's LaGuardia Airport because of bad weather.
DC Air will lease 37 planes from United, as well as flight and ground crews,
creating a new airline with the experience of a major carrier. Johnson
estimated the airline would carry 3 million passengers a year.
He said he would be the sole investor in the airline, but he couldn't say
how much it would cost him because he was still negotiating the details with
United.
"He has basically been given the prize: gates and slots at National" Airport
in Washington, said Darryl Jenkins, director of the Aviation Institute at
George Washington University. "It's basically a turnkey operation."
The new airline's home base will be Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport, located just across the Potomac River from the Capitol. Competitors
such as Delta, American and Continental Airlines will be loath to undercut
fares there - a typical ploy used by majors against start-up competitors -
because it's a profit center favored by business fliers - the highest-paying
travelers.
Plans calls for DC Air to serve 44 former US Airways cities with 122 daily
departures. Among the routes are Washington to Hartford, Conn., and
Manchester, N.H.
"They have a route structure that's proven. That's one of things that
plagues most start-ups," said Jenkins.
Because of DC Air's connections with United, its passengers will be able to
use their frequent flier miles on the bigger airline - the world's largest -
or its Star Alliance partners such as Lufthansa and Air Canada.
And DC Air has one more advantage: Johnson's support from the masses and
friends in high places.
On Monday, Johnson was President Clinton's guest for a White House state
dinner honoring South African President Thabo Mbeki. Also in attendance was
Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, the first black to hold that Cabinet
post. Along with the Justice Department and Federal Aviation Administration,
Slater will review DC Air's airline application.
In addition, DC Air will be based in a majority black city where BET, as
Black Entertainment Television is known, is a source of civic pride and its
brand name adorns a range of products including hair gel.
"As a longtime citizen of Washington, D.C., I'm extraordinarily pleased to
have the opportunity to help create the premier airline that this great
metropolitan region deserves," Johnson said in a statement announcing the
creation of DC Air.
Since the birth of air travel, airlines have come and gone. People Express,
Access Air, Tower Air are among those that have failed.
Typically, the carriers face hurdles of acquiring landing slots and
multimillion dollar airplanes. As soon as they take off, the "majors" launch
a fare war. After a while, passengers tend to overlook low fares and yearn
for big-airline amenities such as frequent-flier programs and airport
lounges.
Their biggest challenge is winning over business travelers.
"A start-up will not make it without briefcases on the flight," said Terry
Trippler, an airline expert at Minneapolis-based 1travel.com, which books
discount airfares and travel packages. "You have to convince the business
traveler you're going to have frequency (in flights), a frequent-flier
program and that you're going to make it."
Post your opinion on this story in the CAA Discussion Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID8
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