Word: airport
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Next time you're trying to get from New York City to Chicago, you might want to try going through New Jersey. Not on the turnpike, but through Teterboro Airport, which is just 12 miles from Manhattan and forbids big airline jets. You can arrive just 20 minutes before your flight. Pull up to the "terminal" (a tidy, one-story brick building), pause for a beverage in the lounge with about a dozen other passengers, speed through security and stroll 25 feet across the tarmac to a luxuriously appointed Embraer business jet. Slide into one of the 16 spacious leather...
Price-conscious trips today require more preflight planning than simply calling one or two major airlines that serve your city, but the potential payoff is huge. The typical fare has dropped 18% since 2000, although flyers might have to arrive at a secondary airport or bring their own dinner. And to the delight of their employees and shareholders, several of the smaller airlines are finding ways to boost revenues and profits in their niches. "What are crumbs for the major airlines are a full meal for us," says Dan McKinnon, CEO of tiny North American Airlines, primarily a charter carrier...
...fare carriers are obsessed with keeping costs down and treating customers well. They work hardest at employee relations, aware that labor troubles have helped sink several major airlines. The low-fare airlines shun extravagances, from linen napkins to fancy airport lounges. In contrast to some major airline CEOs, who pocketed hefty compensation packages even as their airlines were losing billions of dollars, executives at low-fare airlines are out helping load bags when necessary and are tying their pay to their firms' performance. The small airlines have also done away with or reduced the traditional charges for changing tickets...
...niche airlines' low-hassle style of flying has also set them apart. Especially since 9/11, travel through big, crowded airports has been a challenge. Smaller airlines gain an advantage by flying direct and often using less congested secondary airports, like the one in Long Beach, Calif., where JetBlue, based at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, has established a big presence. Spirit, based in Miramar, Fla., uses Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami International Airport...
...niche carriers are also nimbler. When US Airways made the surprising move after 9/11 to shut down MetroJet, its low-cost subsidiary based at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, AirTran, with headquarters in Orlando, Fla., moved into that airport within weeks. It has now built a successful mini-hub there, with 22 flights a day. The low fares have been a boon to these once obscure airports: Midway Airport in Chicago--which is served by AirTran, ATA, Frontier and Southwest--now offers 22% of all U.S. flights from Chicago, up from 14% in 1997. And while many major carriers have cut flights...