First article is Dow Jones, second is SFO Examiner.
Southwest,ATA Air Add Codeshare Services To Oakland,Houston
DALLAS-1/23/06-(Dow Jones)- Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) (LUV) said it is expanding its codeshare agreement with ATA Airlines Corp. (ATAHQ) with new connecting service through Houston Hobby and Oakland.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) said in a press release Monday the Houston service will begin April 2, and will connect customers from various Southwest Airlines (LUV) cities to ATA flights to New York City's La Guardia Airport.
The Oakland service starts April 28, and will connect customers from various Southwest Airlines (LUV) cities to ATA flights to Hilo, Honolulu and Maui, all in Hawaii.
The codeshare agreement allows Southwest and ATA Airlines to exchange passengers and their checked baggage at either of Houston Hobby or Oakland, with a single ticketing option through either airline.
The codeshare arrangement with ATA began in 2005 with connecting service in Chicago.
ATA Holding, the Indianapolis-based parent of ATA Airlines, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2004.
SFO’s loss, Oakland’s gain: Low-fare airline to move
ATA plans to consolidate with Southwest
By Neil H. Dempsey, Staff Writer
Throwing a wrench into San Francisco International Airport’s attempts to lure and retain low-fare carriers, officials confirmed Sunday that ATA Airlines will pack up its bags this spring to move across the Bay — making it the fourth discount airline SFO has lost in less than four months.
Officials said the airline, once known as American Trans Air, will consolidate its flights with Southwest at Oakland International Airport beginning on April 27. ATA joined Southwest in a code-share agreement allowing passengers to build trips using both airlines last February, spokeswoman Michelle Foley said. Southwest itself previously left SFO for Oakland.
ATA constitutes about 0.5 percent of SFO’s total business, according to airport officials, and recently reorganized its senior leadership structure in anticipation of emerging from bankruptcy this year. A formal announcement regarding the move is expected today.
Despite SFO’s long-standing campaign to recruit discount airlines, ATA will be the fourth in a list of low-fare carriers to part ways with SFO since late last September, when Independence Air announced it would fold because of high fuel prices. In October, Song announced a merger with parent company Delta; then, this winter, WestJet quietly stopped serving SFO, airport representatives said.
Despite overall increases in passenger numbers at the airport, the departure of low-fare carriers is a blow to SFO’s attempts to compete with airports in San Jose and Oakland — both of which host discount leaders Southwest and JetBlue — for a national market that an SFO report recently noted represents about 30 percent of domestic passengers across the country.
In that report — an appeal to the Department of Transportation for a swift certification of low-fare carrier Virgin America — SFO Director John Martin noted that only 15 percent of SFO’s domestic traffic utilizes low-fare airlines. In San Jose, 48 percent of domestic passengers use low-fare carriers, and in Oakland, 70 percent of all passengers fly on Southwest and JetBlue alone.
“Notwithstanding the sustained work of the airport and the city to secure additional low-cost air service, the community remains sorely lacking trans-Atlantic low-cost carrier service of the kind that Virgin America promises,†Martin wrote, adding that the number of providers was declining.
Moving to limit the damage done by massive cuts to the United Airlines workforce following Sept. 11, 2001, the airport in 2003 approved slashing landing fees by 50 percent for new carriers offering to serve an underserved market at the airport.
But SFO representatives said Sunday the airport won’t again offer reduced landing fees — currently only allotted to international airlines — or provide any other type of incentive plan to gain low-cost airlines, or to retain them. Instead, they said, the airport is focusing on its international and long-haul business. “Mostly, we’re trying to build the international side of the business,†airport spokeswoman Kandace Bender said. “We’re pretty happy with the way things are going.â€
Bender said the anticipated arrival of Virgin America and the emergence of United Airlines from bankruptcy will help SFO keep competitive prices.
ATA will offer a full schedule out of Oakland beginning April 28. The airline will increase its flights when it moves, adding a flight to Hilo, Hawaii, in addition to the 30 weekly flights it now provides to Maui, Honolulu and Chicago from SFO, Foley said.
Southwest,ATA Air Add Codeshare Services To Oakland,Houston
DALLAS-1/23/06-(Dow Jones)- Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) (LUV) said it is expanding its codeshare agreement with ATA Airlines Corp. (ATAHQ) with new connecting service through Houston Hobby and Oakland.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) said in a press release Monday the Houston service will begin April 2, and will connect customers from various Southwest Airlines (LUV) cities to ATA flights to New York City's La Guardia Airport.
The Oakland service starts April 28, and will connect customers from various Southwest Airlines (LUV) cities to ATA flights to Hilo, Honolulu and Maui, all in Hawaii.
The codeshare agreement allows Southwest and ATA Airlines to exchange passengers and their checked baggage at either of Houston Hobby or Oakland, with a single ticketing option through either airline.
The codeshare arrangement with ATA began in 2005 with connecting service in Chicago.
ATA Holding, the Indianapolis-based parent of ATA Airlines, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2004.
SFO’s loss, Oakland’s gain: Low-fare airline to move
ATA plans to consolidate with Southwest
By Neil H. Dempsey, Staff Writer
Throwing a wrench into San Francisco International Airport’s attempts to lure and retain low-fare carriers, officials confirmed Sunday that ATA Airlines will pack up its bags this spring to move across the Bay — making it the fourth discount airline SFO has lost in less than four months.
Officials said the airline, once known as American Trans Air, will consolidate its flights with Southwest at Oakland International Airport beginning on April 27. ATA joined Southwest in a code-share agreement allowing passengers to build trips using both airlines last February, spokeswoman Michelle Foley said. Southwest itself previously left SFO for Oakland.
ATA constitutes about 0.5 percent of SFO’s total business, according to airport officials, and recently reorganized its senior leadership structure in anticipation of emerging from bankruptcy this year. A formal announcement regarding the move is expected today.
Despite SFO’s long-standing campaign to recruit discount airlines, ATA will be the fourth in a list of low-fare carriers to part ways with SFO since late last September, when Independence Air announced it would fold because of high fuel prices. In October, Song announced a merger with parent company Delta; then, this winter, WestJet quietly stopped serving SFO, airport representatives said.
Despite overall increases in passenger numbers at the airport, the departure of low-fare carriers is a blow to SFO’s attempts to compete with airports in San Jose and Oakland — both of which host discount leaders Southwest and JetBlue — for a national market that an SFO report recently noted represents about 30 percent of domestic passengers across the country.
In that report — an appeal to the Department of Transportation for a swift certification of low-fare carrier Virgin America — SFO Director John Martin noted that only 15 percent of SFO’s domestic traffic utilizes low-fare airlines. In San Jose, 48 percent of domestic passengers use low-fare carriers, and in Oakland, 70 percent of all passengers fly on Southwest and JetBlue alone.
“Notwithstanding the sustained work of the airport and the city to secure additional low-cost air service, the community remains sorely lacking trans-Atlantic low-cost carrier service of the kind that Virgin America promises,†Martin wrote, adding that the number of providers was declining.
Moving to limit the damage done by massive cuts to the United Airlines workforce following Sept. 11, 2001, the airport in 2003 approved slashing landing fees by 50 percent for new carriers offering to serve an underserved market at the airport.
But SFO representatives said Sunday the airport won’t again offer reduced landing fees — currently only allotted to international airlines — or provide any other type of incentive plan to gain low-cost airlines, or to retain them. Instead, they said, the airport is focusing on its international and long-haul business. “Mostly, we’re trying to build the international side of the business,†airport spokeswoman Kandace Bender said. “We’re pretty happy with the way things are going.â€
Bender said the anticipated arrival of Virgin America and the emergence of United Airlines from bankruptcy will help SFO keep competitive prices.
ATA will offer a full schedule out of Oakland beginning April 28. The airline will increase its flights when it moves, adding a flight to Hilo, Hawaii, in addition to the 30 weekly flights it now provides to Maui, Honolulu and Chicago from SFO, Foley said.
