>------------------------------ > >Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 12:32:00 -0800 >From: Bill Hough <psa188@xxxxxxxx> >Subject: SFGate: Airline sees low fares and regional jets as winning combination > >=20 >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. >The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: >http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/03/02/f= >inancial1406EST0166.DTL >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >Tuesday, March 2, 2004 (AP) > >MATTHEW BARAKAT, AP Business Writer > > > (03-02) 11:06 PST CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) -- > When regional carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines reinvents itself later this >year as Independence Air, it will embark on a new concept in the airline >industry: a low-fare carrier using a fleet of small, regional jets. > Having flown under the United Express banner as part of the United >Airlines network, Atlantic Coast is relatively unknown to the traveling >public although it is the nation's 17th-largest carrier in terms of >passengers, rivaling JetBlue. But its transformation will instantly turn >Washington Dulles International Airport -- Independence Air's hub -- into >the nation's largest low-fare airport, with the new airline offering 350 >flights a day. > > Almost everyone I've talked to feels that ACA as an independent will go under in a hurry! There are thousands of air travelers that have used ACA as UAX to connect to UA at Dulles. None of them would have flown on ACA if there had been any other choice. ACA has no concept of customer service. They don't know what a schedule is. They will not give any information when asked. Flights are canceled at the drop of a hat. They also still fly a lot of J41 propjets. Herman