Canada 3000 hopes to fly again WebPosted Fri Jan 4 07:42:12 2002 TORONTO - Just over a month after going bankrupt, Canada 3000 is putting=20 the finishing touches on a plan it hopes will get some of its aircraft off= =20 the ground again. Investors are expected to vote on the proposal at a=20 meeting next week. The airline, which grounded its jets in November, has been talking to=20 unions and creditors about reviving some of its service by the end of=20 May. If the plan is approved, about 10 of the bankrupt company's three=20 dozen jets would return to service, according to reports. The Airbus A320s= =20 would fly to Europe during the summer months, and warm vacation spots=20 during the winter. The company's former president Angus Kinnear says=20 Canada 3000 could succeed because old customers have been urging the=20 carrier to get back in business. "I don't believe the public blames Canada= =20 3000 for what happened Sept. 11. It was a situation, that we got caught in= =20 the downdraft," Kinnear said Thursday. "Although we managed to keep going= =20 for two months, there's a limit as to how far you can continue if you've=20 lost a third of the business because people have stopped travelling," he=20 said. "But people continually phone and ask us to get back into the air." Canada 3000 calls for market regulation Some analysts doubt the venture would be profitable, especially given the=20 tough competition in the airline business. Kinnear admits they are worried about Air Canada's new low-cost carrier=20 Tango. "We are obviously concerned about the very large, dominant position= =20 which Air Canada has in the marketplace." He says Ottawa could help by=20 cutting Air Canada's dominance of the domestic market down from 80 per cent= =20 to 70 per cent. Airline analyst Fred Lazar says that move would be a=20 mistake. "This would be regulation of the indistry of the worst kind. To=20 say OK, each carrier has a certain share of the market basically means=20 there's not going to be any competition." If investors do approve Canada=20 3000's plan, it's believed that some of the workers who lost jobs may be=20 rehired. But union officials have said talks are still at a preliminary=20 stage. It's not clear if the trimmed down airline would call itself Canada= =20 3000 =96 a brand name that some think would help attract passengers. Right= =20 now, Canada 3000's assets are being looked after by the court-appointed=20 receiver Deloitte & Touche. The airline went bankrupt for several reasons= =20 according to analysts. It lost a lot of revenue when many people stopped=20 flying after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Canada=20 3000 was also having trouble making money on two recently acquired rivals,= =20 Royal and CanJet. Written by CBC News Online staff The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com ICQ: ICQ # 15836110 ICQ Pager: mailto:15836110@pager.icq.com escape email #!1 mailto:ejames@escape.ca yahoo email #2: mailto:triniroj@yahoo.com Yahoo Pager: triniroj Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Group on Yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/caribsocabrass Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Club Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ ******************************************************* Steel Expressions Orch http://www.escape.ca/~ejames/se/ email #1: mailto:steelexpressions@yahoo.com email #2: mailto:steelexpressions@home.com ******************************************************* The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Traffik) http://www.cariwaksoca.com/trafik.htm (Caribbean Traffik Jam) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************