http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=3D7399=0ACrandall: VLJ cha= rters 'irrelevant' to airlines=0ATuesday December 19, 2006 =0A=0AFormer Ame= rican Airlines Chairman and CEO Robert Crandall yesterday said that Pogo, t= he air taxi business he is launching built around very light jets, will beg= in offering on-demand flights out of small airports in the US Northeast in = 2008.=0A=0AIn a conference call yesterday produced by Merrill Lynch, Cranda= ll assured analysts that the VLJ's impact on airlines would be "irrelevant"= but that the industry's current rush to consolidation might drive customer= s toward charter and air taxis. "The impact of companies like Pogo on the a= irlines is irrelevant. Even if we succeed five times as well as we hope to = succeed, we won't move enough passengers for the airlines to notice," Crand= all said.=0A=0APogo is hoping to lure high-income passengers who require po= int-to-point charter service. He said the company's branding and accessibil= ity will make it easier for customers to access such a service, which will = be available starting in 2008 on flights of up to 1,000 mi. throughout the = Northeast, with expansion possible later on. =0A=0AAnother company, DayJet,= is developing a similar plan targeting the southeast US, beginning in Flor= ida, connecting small communities that lack nonstop scheduled air service (= ATWOnline, June 15). =0APogo expects a net loss of $7.2 million on revenues= of $3.2 million in 2008 and expects to turn its first profit in 2010. By 2= 012 it should be earning $29.7 million on revenues of $203.3 million.=0A=0A= Rather than focusing on a perceived threat from VLJs, Crandall said airline= s should consider the effect that further mergers and consolidation may hav= e on competition and customer behavior. "The underlying rationale [for cons= olidation] is the elimination of competition. There are not big cross-syner= gies associated with trapping two airlines together," he said. "The only wa= y the airlines are going to get their pricing up to the point where they ca= n make a satisfying return [is by making] the system even less convenient t= han it is today...If it makes the system even less accessible and more expe= nsive, it will further heighten the appeal of private aviation."=0A=0ARegar= ding air traffic congestion, he said stakeholders already have acknowledged= that a new system is required and Pogo's reliance on much smaller airports= will not burden network carriers.=0A=0A___________________________________= _______________=0ADo You Yahoo!?=0ATired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best= spam protection around =0Ahttp://mail.yahoo.com