Air Wisconsin is considering firming up some of its 24 conditional orders for Bombardier CRJ200s following a tie-up with AirTran Airways to establish the low-cost carrier's first regional feeder service, AirTran JetConnect, from November.
The seven-year deal calls for the first two CRJ200s to be in AirTran JetConnect operation by mid-November, followed by two more 50-seaters before the end of the year and a total of 10 aircraft by the end of 2003. Air Wisconsin's new Atlanta-based contract feeder deal is in addition to its much larger partnership with United Airlines at Chicago and Denver.
Air Wisconsin will initially use two leased ex-Midway Airlines CRJ200s and plans to lease in another pair of aircraft. Another option that the Appleton-based carrier is considering is taking delivery of 24 CRJ200s it has on conditional order as part of its 2001 purchase of 51 aircraft for its United Express operation. The carrier has already taken delivery of 27 aircraft and will continue to receive the jets through next year at a rate of two a month.
The CRJs will be deployed on shorter-haul routes served by AirTran's Boeing 717s, and will increase frequencies to other destinations. AirTran JetConnect will initially fly from Atlanta to Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem in North Carolina; to Pensacola, Florida and Savannah, in Georgia.
"With the launch of AirTran JetConnect we will also be able to redeploy our Boeing 717s to increase frequencies in longer-haul, more profitable markets and facilitate growth in larger markets," says the airline. AirTran operates 388 daily flights to 40 destinations in the eastern USA.
Source: Flight International
