Archive for the 'Sun Country' Category

Sun Country Can Keep Its Lansing Flight, and Other DCA Slot Musings

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 7, 2012
in Sun Country
. 1 Comment

As some here may remember, last year Sun Country inaugurated service from Washington-National to Lansing, Michigan – it’s first service from the slot-controlled airport. The flights continue on to Sun Country’s Minneapolis base, and the flights to Washington originate from there as well.

The airline was able to acquire the slots for the new service after the DOT instituted a proceeding for two slot exemptions held by Republic that was used for Frontier service to Kansas City. The slots used for the flights have restrictions on transfers and sales, and the DOT believed that the slots had to be given up because of Republic’s acquisition of Midwest, which has previously held the slots. Republic appealed this decision in court, and DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in its favor, vacating the DOT’s order that reallocated the slots to Sun Country.

Obviously, that decision had a negative effect for Sun Country, and the carrier applied to the government that it receive two new slot exemptions for the service. The FAA granted the two slot exemptions last Friday, allowing Sun Country to continue the service.

In addition to this recent change (and the new beyond-perimeter slot exemptions), there are also two within-perimeter DCA slot exemptions up for grabs. The exemptions were previously used by Delta for service to Jackson, MS, but the carrier has dropped the service. US Airways has temporary authority to continue operating that route, but has now applied to the DOT for permanent re-allocation of the slots. It’s uncertain if that will happen, however, as Frontier and Southwest have also applied for the slots to operate flights to Louisville and Oklahoma City, respectively.

Remember that Sun Country London Flight?

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 14, 2010
in Sun Country
. 3 Comments

Who remembers that once-weekly service from Minneapolis to London Stansted (with a stop in Gander) from Sun Country this summer?  It was certainly one of the more interesting routes announced all year, I’d say. Sun Country has lots of seasonal service down to Mexico and the Caribbean during the summer, so it was interesting to see them try summer transatlantic flying.

Anyway, I’m bringing this route up for a couple of reasons. First off, the DOT last week released international segment data for June, the first month of operation, allowing us to take first look at load factor performance. The flights are actually filed under Minneapolis-Gander, but there was no local Gander traffic allowed on the flights anyway:

So, an overall load factor below 50% is certainly on the low side, but we can only see data for the first month of service, and plus we don’t know what Sun Country was actually expecting.

Now, I had actually calculated those numbers for the first time last week, and was chatting about them with David Parker Brown of AirlineReporter, who alerted me that Sun Country announced last week it would be boosting the service due to its popularity. Flights will now operate twice per week, and Sun Country is also extending the length of the season. This year, flights operated from June 11 to August 15, while they will fly from May 24 to September 4 in 2011. Flights will also be to Gatwick instead of Stansted.

Photo Credit: Russell Hill. Used with permission.

One thing I’m wondering about is how this works from a crew perspective. This summer, flights arrived in Gatwick on Saturday and departed on Sunday, so I assume the crew spent the night in London and just flew back to Minneapolis.

Next summer, the Minneapolis flights depart on Friday and Saturday, and London departures are on Saturday  and Sunday. I assume the crew that operates the Friday flight can head back on Sunday, so does another crew stay in London over the week to operate the Saturday flight back to Minneapolis?

I called Sun Country with a couple of questions about the flight, such as the crew one above and the route’s performance, last week – but unfortunately haven’t heard back.

Edited at 11:58 to note that flights are moving from Stansted to Gatwick.

Republic Loses DCA Slot Pair to Sun Country

Published
by
Dan Webb
on December 13, 2010
in Frontier, Republic and Sun Country
. 1 Comment

Remember that DCA slot extravaganza I wrote about awhile back? The matter came to a conclusion on Friday, with the DOT announcing that the slot pair currently used by Republic for Frontier service to Kansas City will be awarded to Sun Country for service to Lansing, Michigan. Sun Country said in its original filings that the flights would originate/terminate in Minneapolis, providing new competition in that market, though that doesn’t appear to have been a factor in the DOT’s decision.

Basically, the DOT decided that Sun Country fulfilled the most criteria for the flight, writing that the carrier “is a new entrant, would provide nonstop service to a small community that does not have service to DCA, and has a history of offering low fares.”

Republic had applied to keep the slots, while Southwest, US Airways, and AirTran had also applied.

I can’t say I saw this one coming, as it was easy to get caught up in the battle between Southwest and Frontier/Republic over Kansas City service.  I didn’t expect Sun Country to get the slots, but nevertheless it will be quite interesting to see how the service goes. For example, how much competitive pressure does this provide to Delta in the DC – Minneapolis market? How many of the passengers on these flights originate in Minneapolis or Lansing? In the case of the latter – are there many passengers who would prefer to use Lansing but are instead driving to Detroit for more convenient flights?

But naturally Republic/Frontier can’t be too happy here. While it’s probably a better outcome than having Southwest come in as a competitor for Kansas City service, it still hurts to lose slots. It seems that Republic’s unique structure might have hurt them a bit. One of the criteria for the slot award was that the carrier was a new entrant or a limited incumbent. Republic tried to argue that it was the latter because of the small number of  slots under its control (what it uses for branded service). In its final order, however, the DOT mentions that large number of slots that Republic and its subsidiaries operate at DCA. Of course, the vast majority of that service is for other carriers like US Airways, but that didn’t change their status, it appears.

Frontier will continue to serve Kansas City from DCA, but just with two instead of three flights. US Airways also provides nonstop service which is, ironically, flown by Republic. Nevertheless the loss of the flight is annoying for Frontier, Republic, and Kansas City. (And one would ask, what is the net benefit here? Do the benefits of the MSP-LAN-DCA flight outweigh the inconvenience of the loss of the MCI-DCA service?)

Anyway, Sun Country now has to tell the DOT within 10 business days of the award if it accepts or rejects it. If they accept (and I have no idea why they would not), they  have to start service by April 1. Frontier can continue to use the slot for Kansas City flights until Sun Country service begins.

Meanwhile, the DCA slot situation for Republic is just getting started. The DOT says it will launch proceedings about five slot slides the airline currently uses. What’s a slot slide? Well, each slot at DCA is assigned a time, but under some circumstances the DOT will allow the time to be moved.

You can find the DOT announcement, with an in-depth summary of the proceedings, here.

EDIT: Apologies for anyone who saw the original version of this post. Somehow, last evening, I accidentally pasted in some class notes, and thought I had deleted them from WordPress, but they were hiding in the HTML format of the past. So, yes, some of you got to see my notes for my ecology final tomorrow. Embarrassing, I know!

The Bachelor: DCA Slot Edition

Published
by
Dan Webb
on October 28, 2010
in AirTran, JetBlue, Republic, Southwest, Sun Country and US Airways
. 2 Comments

There are two slots (one pair) up for grabs at Washington National – and a few airlines are fighting over them. Picking up slots at a restricted like National is a rare opportunity, and it’s always interesting to see carriers argue about it. Eventually, the DOT will have to choose who should get them. It’s basically like the TV show The Bachelor, I guess. I’ve never watched it, honestly.

Granted, the applications came in a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve really wanted to blog about this.

First – let’s talk about how these slots became available in the first place. There are slots currently being used by Republic for Kansas City service that was inherited from the Midwest acquisition – and that’s the problem. These slots can’t be transferred. Republic argued last year that they should hold on to the slots, noting how they were keeping the Midwest brand and such, but the DOT disagreed:

After careful review, we have concluded that a “transfer” of exemptions has in fact occurred. Midwest, the party to which the awards were granted, has now ceased to exist as a carrier. Unlike Frontier, which was acquired by Republic but still operates as a subsidiary under its own operating certificate, Midwest clearly no longer holds or operates the exemptions, and Republic’s claim to these exemptions arises only as a result of its transaction with Midwest.

Another interesting mention in the DOT’s letter from November:

Moreover, the fact that Midwest operated relatively few slots was deemed a key factor in its qualifying for award of the slot slide exemptions. When Midwest’s various applications for the five slot slides were considered, the Department noted in approving them that Midwest met a statutory “exceptional circumstances” requirement in part because it had operational limitations due to holding only a limited number of slots at DCA. Based on FAA August 2009 data, we understand that Republic holds over one hundred exemptions at DCA – a fact that clearly distinguishes its current status from that of Midwest when Midwest was awarded the exemptions.

This is an interesting situation for Republic. Of course, those slots are tied up with their US Airways Express operation at DCA. In its application for the slots a few weeks ago (which I’ll be getting into more shortly), Republic argued:

RJET obtained the slots in a sale/leaseback transaction with US Airways in 2005, as a financing mechanism to enable US Airways to raise additional money…US Airways has retained complete control over and has the exclusive right to use the slots. Importantly, although RJET is listed as the holder of record of those slots, Republic has no control over the use of, nor can it sell, the DCA slots. Moreover, US Airways has the right to repurchase the commuter slots at any time.

Anyway – after analyzing the situation, the DOT decided to launch a proceeding to determine what airline should receive the slots. A quick summary of the applications.

Republic, not surprisingly, wants to hold on to the slots for its current Kansas City service. These slots are used for one of the airline’s three Kansas City flights under its branded service. “Failure to grant the slot exemptions to Republic would result in substantial harm to leisure, business, and government travelers, the affected local and beyond communities, and inter-carrier competition,” says the airline in its application. The carrier is “proposing to operate Stage 3-compliant, 99-seat ERJ-190 aircraft between DCA and MCI with these two slot exemptions, effective December 1, 2010″ and adds that “effective December 1, 2010, all three of Republic’s nonstop DCA-MCI services will
be operated with 99-seat ERJ-190 aircraft.” Right now, this is an E-170 route. Just for reference, US Airways also has DCA-MCI service, some of which is provided by Republic.

Next up is AirTran, looking to obtain the slots the slots for service to Ft. Myers (a market it already serves from DCA) or Sarasota. The airline doesn’t commit to an aircraft type, saying it will use either 717s or 737-700s. I just found this application a bit interesting, since in the past AirTran has tried to get the ability to reduce its Ft. Myers service. Meanwhile, US Airways serves both of these markets, but it appears that Ft. Myers flights are seasonal.

Speaking of US Airways, the carrier has tossed its hat in the ring as well, proposing service to Pensacola. This is the “third within perimeter slot allocation proceeding in four years in which US Airways has applied,” the airline notes. Service would be operated with E-175s during the summer and 170s during the winter. “With 99-seat Embraer EMB-190s a part of US Airways’ fleet, US Airways could further increase seats should demand warrant,” US Airways adds.

Southwest has also applied for the slots for its own flights to Kansas City. Had this been a year or two ago, I would’ve been shocked by this application, but the airline publicly showed its interest in DCA with the proposed slot swap between US Airways and Delta, which is now tied up in court. I have to think – does this application really make sense for Southwest when we exclude AirTran? Historically speaking, Southwest has avoided small stations, with only a handful of cities having less than ten daily departures. Having an airport with only one departure is very un-Southwest-y, at least to me.

And, to save the best/most interesting for last – Sun Country is giving this a whirl as well, for flights to Lansing. Why Lansing? Well, the DOT has said that these slots must be used for small or medium hub airports, and Sun Country is considering building up there. But what’s more interesting is that Sun Country is planning for the Lansing flights to originate and end in Minneapolis. So here Sun Country can say they’re providing service to a smaller city while providing new competition with Delta. In terms of the actual application – I’m not entirely sure what was going on here. Sun Country submitted its original application, and then corrected it. Based on the differences in the schedule listed in the appendices of both, it appears that Sun Country originally thought they could run two roundtrips.

What I found very interesting, however, is who didn’t apply. JetBlue said in a March 3 letter to the DOT that it was “prepared to use the two AIR-2l slots immediately,” yet they didn’t apply. I asked them why not, and here’s what they had to say:

JetBlue regrets that DCA remains artificially restricted, and while we are grateful that Congress has begun to shine light on this [with the recent MWAA oversight hearing before the Senate Aviation Subcommittee], acquiring one slot pair, limited to specific cities defined by the government and not by the free market or by JetBlue itself, made such an application economically unfeasible. We look forward to greater access opportunities in the future.

Anyway – that’s just the applications. The airlines have recently submitted their responses to the applications of the competing airlines, and that’s where this really gets fun. Expect a post about those in the next few days.

Meanwhile – also up for grabs are Republic/Midwest’s five slot slides. What is a slot slide, you ask? Basically, each slot is assigned for a time period, but under certain conditions (generally, to boost competition) the DOT will allow an airline to “slide” that slot do another time of the day. The DOT said in its announcement for this proceeding that it “will conduct a separate proceeding with regard to Republic’s five slot slide exemptions at DCA.”

Sun Country to Fly To London (Really)

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 17, 2010
in Sun Country
. 3 Comments

In one of the more interesting route announcements in awhile, Sun Country Airlines announced yesterday that it would begin flying to London (Stansted) from its Minneapolis base beginning on June 11. If you’re familiar with the airline, you’ll know Sun Country operates an all-737 fleet, and this flight is no exception, so the flight will be stopping in Gander, Canada each way for fuel, which is add an hour to the flight time each way.

The schedule for the flight is kind of interesting. The departure leaves late Friday afternoon, arrives on Saturday morning, and then the 737-800 sits in London until Sunday afternoon for the return. Why is that? Most likely it’s due to crew rest times. If Sun Country were to have the flight turn right back around, it would need an extra crew at the ready to do the next flight, and my guess is that they just don’t want to pay for it.

So, will it work? I think this one has a fighting chance. While going transatlantic is certainly a big step, Sun Country doing leisure flights to the Carribbean on a less-than-daily schedule is pretty much standard operating procedure for them. Most of that Caribbean flying takes place during the winter, when Sun Country is busiest. So my guess is that they have some room in the schedule and they want to try something similar for the summer.

That being said, there already is service on the route. Delta has a daily 767-400 to Heathrow, and there’s plenty of other connecting service as well with fairly convenient schedules. I’d say that other airlines have a stronger economy product, too. So I guess Sun Country is hoping travelers will love their cheap fares. That being said, Sun Country’s expertise is the leisure market, so maybe they can make it work.

Interestingly, the CEO of Sun Country mentioned how service to Stansted opens up good connecting opportunities with Ryanair and EasyJet. Sun Country doesn’t have any interlining or codeshare agreements with those carriers, but nevertheless it would be interesting to know how many passengers actually do that.

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carenmack/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

Sun Country Heads to Branson

Published
by
Dan Webb
on March 19, 2009
in AirTran and Sun Country
. 0 Comments

Branson Airport in Missouri is very interesting to watch, as it is the first privately-funded airport here in the United States. For some background, take a look at this post from Brett Snyder.

Sun Country recently announced that it will begin nonstop service to Branson from Dallas (DFW) and Minneapolis on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, starting in May (the airport has yet to open). (For some reason, two press releases were needed.)

I’m guessing here, but by looking at the schedule in the press releases it seems that one aircraft will fly MSP-BKG-DFW-BKG-MSP, and during the Saturday summer flights one plane will do the DFW one and another will do the MSP route.

It’s kind of hard for me to analyze the routes, as, well, Branson is a new airport. But I was able to find DOT Data for the second quarter of 2008 for the closest airport, Springfield-Branson (SGF). Here are the top ten markets (ranked by average daily passengers) for that market (after I combined the passenger count for Orlando and Sanford):

So, Dallas an Minneapolis are in the top ten. There might not be enough for a daily 737-800 from Sun Country, but I think three flights a week could work. I wonder if Sun Country is hoping to get some MSP-DFW traffic on the route to fill some seats, as their website will allow you to book that trip with a quick stop in Branson.

As for AirTran, Atlanta is one of the largest markets, and Milwaukee is near the bottom of the list with only 12 average passengers a day. But this data is just for O&D (origin and destination) traffic, and AirTran’s ATL and MKE flights allow for connections to a good number of markets.

Another thing worthy of note is that the top three markets (Vegas, Sanford, and Tampa) have Allegiant as their largest carrier. If Branson can convince Allegiant to move over from Springfield, that could give the airport a nice boost.

Overall, though, it seems that Branson is off to a good start. Yes, it only has two carriers, but based on this rendering from the airport website, it doesn’t look like the airport is expecting a great deal of traffic with only four parking spots in front of the terminal.

It’ll be interesting to see how AirTran and Sun Country do in this new market. If they’re successful, I wouldn’t be surprised if some legacies decided to send a few RJs to Branson as well.