"Giving Gary a lift"

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Giving Gary a lift 
Hooters Air debuts with flights at Gary airport 
By Howard Ludwig
The Chicago (IL) Daily Southtown


Hooters Air has spread its wings to the Gary/Chicago International Airport. 

The airline, operated by the Atlanta-based Hooters restaurant chain, will
begin offering nonstop flights today to its hub in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Hooters Air debuts with flights four days per week at the Gary airport,
offering connecting flights to Fort Myers, Fla., and Nassau, Bahamas.

The airline will add a regular Saturday flight beginning July 3. Most
flights cost $99 each way.

"Gary/Chicago is an area we have wanted to serve since we started," Hooters
Air president Mark Peterson said Wednesday at a news conference at the
airport.

Hooters of America Inc. launched its airline service in March 2003, using
planes and flight crews employed by Pace Airlines of Winston-Salem, N.C.

Robert Brooks, chairman of the restaurant group, acquired Pace Airlines in
late 2002 with the intent to develop Hooters Air, Peterson said.

A fleet of five Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft have been branded with the
Hooters owl logo. The planes seat 112 passengers, offering a generous 34
inches of leg room and leather seats.

The planes are staffed by a crew of two pilots and three experienced flight
attendants, all dressed in traditional uniforms and assisted by two Hooters
girls.

The Hooters girls wear their signature tank tops and orange shorts while on
board, entertaining guests with trivia games and helping serve food.

Danielle Gulik of Munster, Ind., is one of the Chicago-area Hooters
employees who volunteered to work on the flights leaving from the Gary
airport.

"I just thought it would be a good experience," said Gulik, who has worked
at the Hooters restaurant in Lansing since 1999.

The only thing missing is the chicken wings.

The chain has been unable to find a way to cook its famous wings at 35,000
feet, and attempts at reheating haven't met Hooters' standards.

Hooters Air initially looked at bringing its business to O'Hare
International and Midway airports, but decided on Gary for a number of
reasons, including price.

"You know in this area how big Midway and O'Hare are. As a small carrier, it
is difficult to get gate space there," Peterson said.

The Gary airport avoids many of the delays seen at a larger airport, while
also offering travelers an uncrowded terminal and providing free parking,
Peterson said.

David Marr is on the speaking committee for the Friends of the Gary/Chicago
Airport and will fly to Florida this weekend on Hooters Air.

"It is imperative that we continue to grow and bring in fairly and
inexpensively priced airlines here," Marr said.

Largo, Fla.-based Southeast Airlines also began service from Gary this year,
offering flights to St. Petersburg, Fla., on Feb. 25. The airport had been
without regularly scheduled passenger service after Pan American pulled out
in summer 2002.

Mayor Scott King of Gary said Southeast Airlines and Hooters Air have helped
to raise the profile of the Gary airport throughout the area.

"Offering expanded service from this airport is the equivalent of putting
one foot in front of the other," King said.


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