"Extension good news for North Carolina airport"

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Extension good news for airport 
BY BERNHARDT DOTSON 
The Jacksonville (NC) Daily News


With its sole passenger carrier out of the woods - at least until June - and
bankruptcy proceedings at a distance, nerves don't seem to be close to the
edge these days at Jacksonville's Albert J. Ellis Airport. 

Daily shuttles to Charlotte are still arriving and departing as scheduled,
and word is getting around about the airport's recently returned jet
service. 

Travel agents are still booking flights, and there appears to be no let up
in demand. 

Translation: Officials with US Airways say they have no plans to alter any
flights at the Onslow County facility anytime soon. 

"I don't see a change," said Jerry M. Vickers, airport director. "There
continues to be a great demand for people flying in and out of (Ellis)." 

The struggling airline now has the financial cushion it needs to keep flying
through mid-year. 

A bankruptcy judge approved this week a deal between US Airways and the
federal Air Transportation Stabilization Board. 

An interim financing arrangement was set to expire today but received an
extension through June 30. 

"It's business as usual," said Amy Kudwa, a spokeswoman for the airlines. 

"That (Jacksonville) market has performed well. We are continuing with our
operating schedule as published." 

Travel agencies around town are booking passengers as usual. No one is being
turned away or redirected. 

Agents interviewed believe the situation looks like it'll get even better
with time - should ticket demand stay like it is. 

"We're still selling tickets - like always," said Lucy Lyons, manager at
Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Jacksonville. "We will accommodate passengers." 

Two 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets leave Ellis each Monday and Tuesday via
the division of US Airways known as US Airways Express. That number is
expected to go up next month. The jets will ultimately replace the fleet of
DASH-8 turboprops that go out of Ellis right now. 

Currently, there are seven daily flights taking off from Ellis for
Charlotte. Eight flights will leave daily starting next month. 

Arlington, Va.-based US Airways, the nation's seventh-largest airline, filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors in September, its second
such filing in as many years. US Airways officials have said the airline
probably won't mount a substantial profit until about 2008. 

Vickers, airport director for about four years, called the bankruptcy
extension a positive thing for the airline. 

Vickers stressed that regardless of administrative happenings at the airline
or its future, passengers should be mindful of the advantage of buying
tickets via credit card. 

He said credit card companies usually refund the full price of a particular
ticket purchase. 

Such a refund is normally not disputed by airlines, Vickers said. 

That's not always the case, however, with cash, Vickers noted, explaining
that in airline liquidation cases, tickets that are sold are sometimes
classified as unsecured debts.


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