Independence Air vs Airtran, the gloves are off

[Full of LUV]

From the PR Newswires:

"Independence Air Announces Non-Stop Low-Fare Service From Washington Dulles to Orlando and Tampa Aboard New Airbus A319s; Also, Non-Stop Service to BOTH Orlando and Tampa from Six Other Cities: Knoxville, Greensboro, Huntsville, Greenville/Spartanburg, Columbia and Charleston, SC"



Isn't this some of the opening salvos of direct LCC competition? Independent Air serving non stop routes throughout the east coast to Orlando with 319's, home of Airtran, or does Airtran have all of the markets in the SE that they want and are moving west? We definitely live in interesting times. It's like back in the 70's when Trailways started getting on Greyhound's turf.

 

[BoilerUP]

Didn't Delta announce a bunch of new flying for CHQ out of MCO to most if not all of those same cities?

 

[FDJ2]

Didn't Delta announce a bunch of new flying for CHQ out of MCO to most if not all of those same cities?

An RJ competing with a 319 is no competition at all. RJs can't compete against 100+ seat aircraft in the LCC market.

 

[Ty Webb]

Well, my hunch is that those RJ's that make up the bulk of their operation will cause them to lose any money they would make with the Airbuses. So, the question is really, "How long can they last?".

Time will tell.

 

[captboy2001]

go indy................................

 

[FL717]

Actually other than the fact that AirTran serves Orlando and Tampa .... there is no direct relevance that I can see to Independence vs AirTran such as the thread title suggests. Independence Air is starting service to a bunch of cities that AirTran doesn't even serve. How is this press release indicating or suggesting Independence Air vs. AirTran as suggested in the title of this thread?

What gloves are coming off??

Independence is starting service to:

Knoxville - No AirTran service
Greensboro - No AirTran service (discontinued)
Huntsville - No AirTran service
Greenville/Spartenburg - No AirTran service
Columbia - No AirTran service
Charleston SC - No AirTran service

IMO..... this really is no different than any of the number of other city that AirTran serves that has other airlines serving a bunch of non AirTran cities. I could see the relevance if Independence Air was starting service from Orlando to a bunch of our markets, but none of these cities mentioned are markets in our system, nor do I see them becoming anytime in the near future.

Oh... and I agree.... go Indy. I hope those folks do well. Something I have seen with AirTran competing with SWA in both BWI and PHL... there is room for healthy competition, and plenty of dissimilar routes to profit on without killing each other.

And it works.

 

[Lancair]

Time will tell

Yeah that's right Indy will never make it because we have RJ's. Just because something hasn't been done before doesn't mean it can't be done. Maybe we're using what he have untill Airbuses replace all of our fleet.

 

[Ty Webb]

Easy there, hotshot.

RJ's are not cost effective against today's SNR aircraft, and Independence has been charging prices that it would take a load factor in excess of 110% just to break even.

Right now, your RJ operation is losing a lot of money . . . . 10 Airbuses can't support 85 RJ's.

In other words, either your company starts charging more, or you go out of business . . . . . . those are the harsh realities.

Yeah that's right Indy will never make it because we have RJ's. Just because something hasn't been done before doesn't mean it can't be done. Maybe we're using what he have untill Airbuses replace all of our fleet.

 

[KingAirer]

In other words, either your company starts charging more, or you go out of business . . . . .

and thats an order mister!

 

[dashtrasher]

RJ's are not cost effective against today's SNR aircraft, and Independence has been charging prices that it would take a load factor in excess of 110% just to break even.



Hey there Ty where did you get that info??