as Vegas needs airlift to fill the
burgeoning number of hotel rooms in town. So the news that the
Vegas-based National Airlines has ceased operations is a blow. But
JetBlue is taking the edge off the bad news by beginning service
between JFK and Vegas starting this Friday.
Earlier, JetBlue had announced the service would begin in
January but it moved up the date after National shut down. JetBlue
also has begun service between its West Coast base at Long Beach,
Calif., and Vegas.
The carrier will operate a daily flight between JFK and Vegas
beginning Nov. 15 and will step it up to two a day on Jan. 3. By
March 2003, it will be operating four daily flights on the
route.
National had sought in vain to get assistance from the Air
Transportation Stabilization Board and then failed to get the
private financing it needed to remain in business. The carrier had
been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy provisions for nearly
two years.
Following the denial by the federal government to provide the
requested financing, the airline's CEO, Michael Conway, said the
stabilization board was favoring the larger carriers over the
smaller ones in direct violation of its congressional mandate.
The loss of National Airlines also is a blow to travel agencies.
National was one of a handful of carriers that continued to pay
base commissions.
Conway had warned agencies nearly six months ago that the
commission policy was in jeopardy because the trade wasn't selling
enough incremental business on National.
He also complained that many agencies continued to charge
clients the same level of service fees on the commissionable
tickets, thereby denying National any price advantage.
Agencies were split on the issue of whether to reduce or
eliminate service fees on the commissionable fares. Some agencies
saw the merit in giving National a price advantage by reducing or
eliminate service fees on their tickets.
But others maintained that, despite Natonal's commission policy,
they were not prepared to modify a uniform service fee
procedure.