This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@juno.com. I wonder what that "DB" really stands for? psa188@juno.com A New Choice for Flying Coast to Coast September 24, 2002 By JANE L. LEVERE A New England air charter company plans to enter the New York-to- Los Angeles market later this year with charter flights on specially configured airliners. The company, DB Air Ltd. of North Hampton, N.H., will offer one round-trip flight five days a week between Burbank Airport near Los Angeles and Kennedy International Airport, starting Dec. 1. Fares will be the same as business-class service on scheduled transcontinental flights. DB Air's plans follow the introduction in June by Lufthansa of scheduled all-business-class service on a leased 48-seat 737-700 aircraft, between Düsseldorf and Newark. A spokeswoman for Lufthansa, Jennifer Urbaniak, said the service, which is offered every day but Tuesday, was profitable. Although the New York-Los Angeles market is one of the country's busiest, industry experts are divided about DB Air's prospects. While many travel agents say DB Air can successfully fill a niche, Wall Street analysts are more skeptical. The analysts point to the failure of the Regent Air Corporation and MGM Grand Air, which ran luxury flights in the 1980's and 1990's, and to the failure of Legend Airlines, which briefly offered service from Dallas Love Field in 2000. Samuel C. Buttrick, airline analyst for UBS Warburg, said, "High-end transcon service has been tried by MGM Grand and Regent Air, and it didn't even approach success." The chief operating officer, Gregory Raiff, said DB Air, which provides charter flights for rock groups and sports teams, will offer one round-trip flight daily except Tuesdays and Saturdays. The flights will be operated by Miami Air International, which operates DB Air's flights for sports teams. Two specially configured 727-200's - with 48 first-class sleeper seats with DVD players; two staterooms; a bar; a conference table; data ports and fax machine - will be used. Mr. Raiff said DB Air planned a fare comparable to the current business-class fare of scheduled airlines; the one-way business-class fare from Kennedy airport to Los Angeles International is about $1,800. DB Air will not sell tickets to the public. Rather, travelers will have to buy them from a group of travel agencies that have agreed to act as distributors. The agencies include Valerie Wilson Travel, Protravel International, Linden Travel Bureau and Tzell Travel Group, all in New York, and Altour International, which has offices in New York and Los Angeles. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/business/24CHAR.html?ex=1033873383&ei=1&en=9e30c1cdeb258adb HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company