Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC
Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) Holdings has ordered a further 25 Fairchild Aerospace 328JET regional aircraft to equip a planned new subsidiary carrier to partner Delta Air Lines on north-east USA services.
Under a newly concluded 10-year partnership, the new airline will operate as a Delta Connection carrier with 45 jet aircraft. ACA says it reached the agreement with Delta with the open knowledge of its other partner, United Express. It says "nothing of this is a surprise".
To avoid conflict with ACA's 548 daily United Express flights, the new Delta Connection carrier will not operate from the Washington Dulles hub. The carrier, temporarily named ACA Management, will maintain a separate fleet, which, in addition to 328JETs, will include 20 recently ordered Bombardier Canadair CRJ-200s (Flight International, 25-31 August).
No details have been released about the network, but the carrier is likely to replace Delta Connection partner Business Express at Boston and New York La Guardia. Business Express' Delta services have been in doubt since the Dover-based carrier was acquired by its other partner, American Eagle, last December.
Trans States Airlines says it has no plans to discontinue its Delta Connection service from New York Kennedy to the north east.
The new carrier plans to start flying from April, with the delivery of the first 328JET. It will receive another 13 of the 32-seaters and the first four CRJ-200s by the end of next year, followed by the remaining 11 328JETs and six CRJs in 2001, and the final 10 50-seat Canadian jets in 2002. It has options on 30 more 328JETs, or larger 428JETs.
ACA is budgeting $3.3 million in start-up expenses by the first quarter of next year, excluding the $754 million value of the new jets ordered, which it says will be financed internally. It has a low-risk agreement with Delta, providing a fixed fee per departure irrespective of loads, compared to the pro rata income it receives from United Express on tickets sold.
The Delta deal is part of a push by ACA to reduce its dependence on United Express, say sources. ACA's fleet growth is constrained by United's scope clause agreement with pilots and, until this is revised, its earlier order for 55 328/ 428JETs can not be confirmed.
Source: Flight International
