Fwd: Aloha, Applying for DCA Flight Slots, is Part of a Crowd

--- Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 23:45:04 -0800 (PST)
> From: Colleen Turner <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Aloha, Applying for DCA Flight Slots, is
> Part of a Crowd
> To: airport@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> January 11, 2004
> 
> Aloha, Applying for DCA Flight Slots, is Part of a
> Crowd
> Pacific Business News, HI
> 
> Aloha Airlines, which has filed for permission to
> fly
> between Reagan National Airport and Orange County,
> Calif., is part of a large group of airlines seeking
> to serve the West from the close-in airport of the
> nation's capital. 
> 
> But Aloha's petition for two of the six available
> round trip pairs of flight slots may have a good
> chance of approval since so many of the other
> applicants already have ample access to Washington,
> D.C., area airports. 
> 
> Reagan National is something of a special case as
> airports go. It sits on the Virginia side of the
> Potomac River within view of the Washington
> Monument,
> with its own Metrorail subway station. Only Air
> Force
> One, with its Marine One chopper connecting service
> to
> the White House lawn, is more convenient. Free
> parking
> spaces are reserved at National for Supreme Court
> justices and other VIPs. But concern about noise and
> danger at the airport, which has short runways, led
> to
> a general rule that flights in and out of Reagan
> National cannot go more than 1,250 miles,
> effectively
> limiting the size of jets using the airport. 
> 
> After years of complaints about this from senators
> representing Western states, Congress has approved
> some exemptions. The U.S. Department of
> Transportation
> will allow six round trip flights a day that go
> longer
> distances. Aloha Airlines is asking for two of them,
> both for service to John Wayne International. 
> 
> If approved, the service will begin July 1. Aloha
> CEO
> Glenn Zander said the plan is to do same-aircraft
> continuing service to Honolulu. "Aloha is very
> excited
> about the opportunity to provide the traveling
> public
> with the convenience of direct service between our
> nation's Capital, Orange County and Hawaii," Zander
> said. 
> 
> Aloha has told federal aviation regulators it wants
> to
> have departures from Reagan National (DCA) at 8 a.m.
> and 5:05 p.m. Passengers flying straight through to
> Honolulu would arrive at 2:52 p.m. or 11:57 p.m. One
> of the eastbound flights would be a 10:51 p.m.
> redeye
> and the other would leave at 7:15 a.m. 
> 
> United wants three round trips 
> United Airlines applied for permission to do three
> nonstop flights a day from Reagan National to the
> West, two to San Francisco and one to Denver. Both
> are
> United hubs from which there is nonstop service to
> Hawaii. 
> 
> "We are excited by the chance to respond to customer
> demand for convenient nonstop United service between
> Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and both
> San
> Francisco and Denver," said Executive VP John Tague.
> 
> 
> United already has such service from Dulles
> International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of
> Washington, D.C. 
> 
> "United serves more Western airports in the
> contiguous
> United States than any other carrier," UAL Corp.
> said
> in a statement. "From Denver, United serves more
> domestic cities than any other carrier through any
> Western hub." 
> 
> United also flies more seats from the U.S. mainland
> to
> Hawaii than any other airline, all originating in
> Denver, San Francisco or Los Angeles. 
> 
> Who else wants a piece of this 
> Three of the big five U.S. airlines have asked for
> some of the slots. In addition to United's
> application
> for half of them, American Airlines wants to fly
> from
> Reagan National to Los Angeles, and Delta Air Lines
> wants to fly service to Salt Lake City. Both
> carriers
> originate flights to Hawaii from the western
> destinations in these applications. 
> 
> Hawaii could also benefit if America West wins its
> application to fly from Reagan National to both of
> its
> hubs, in Phoenix and Las Vegas. America West
> interchanges passengers with its codeshare partner
> Hawaiian Airlines in both of those cities. 
> 
> Several other applicants want to use slots for
> service
> that would not benefit Hawaii: 
> 
> Alaska Airlines wants to fly from Reagan National to
> Seattle and Los Angeles. 
> Frontier Airlines wants to fly to Denver. 
> Midwest Airlines wants to fly to Kansas City. 
> Primaris Airlines wants to fly to Los Angeles. 
> Spirit Airlines wants to fly to Detroit. 
> US Airways wants to fly to Asheville, N.C.,
> Chattanooga, Tenn., San Francisco and San Juan,
> Puerto
> Rico. 
> Aloha Airlines takes the position that its
> application
> will do a lot more to improve airline options in the
> nation's capital than the other applications. 
> 
> "Aloha," the airline said, "is a unique niche
> carrier,
> which provides essential transportation services
> within the islands of Hawaii and between the State,
> the South/Central Pacific, the West Coast and
> Canada."
> It said this is a good reason to award the flight
> slots to it. 
> 
> 
> 

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