WASHINGTON -- The owners of Apple Vacations filed an application at
the Transportation Department to start a charter airline.
The company told the DOT it is starting its own airline because
of "the inability of the existing charter carriers to satisfy
Apple's charter requirements."
Plans call for the charter carrier to serve destinations in the
U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean, primarily from Philadelphia,
Chicago and Newark. Fall 2001 is the projected delivery date for
two leased Airbus A-320 aircraft configured for 174 seats.
According to documents, the airline was incorporated last March
under the name Brendan Airways by Apple's principal owner and chief
executive officer John Mullen.
All the stock is owned by individual members of the Mullen
family; John Mullen and his wife Joan each own 20%.
Airline investments are not new to the Mullens. They own 15% of
Canada 3000 Airlines, a Canadian charter airline, and they also own
a fractional stake in Transmeridian Airlines. Several years ago,
they also held a substantial stake in Private Jet Expeditions, a
U.S. charter line that is now defunct.
Apple is one of the biggest charter operators in the U.S.,
claiming to have operated 175 charter flights a week during the
winter 1999/2000 season. It expects to operate 210 during the
2000/2001 season. This is in addition to the scheduled service that
it uses.
The DOT papers show that Brendan Airways has retained some key
personnel to begin the process for obtaining operating authority
from the FAA.
The president of the airline is James Kenney, a former FAA
safety inspector who was president of the charter airline Laker
Airways from 1996 to 1998. He was most recently vice president of
maintenance at Miami Air International, another charter
airline.
Apple Vacations executive vice president Ray Daley said the
plans are in an early "exploratory" phase and that the company may
not go through with them.
Mullen, said Daley, is "thinking forward to cover all
contingencies," but that "a firm, hard decision has not been
made."