Service to Houston : Continental Announces Two Flights From Wayne
Culminating a 17-year campaign to break into the lucrative Orange County travel market, Continental Airlines will inaugurate service at John Wayne Airport April 1, offering two flights a day to its home city of Houston, officials of the airline said Wednesday.
Continental’s entry into Orange County was made possible by the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ airport expansion plan. The plan, awaiting the board’s final approval Feb. 26, will lift the ceiling on daily departures of major jetliners at John Wayne from 41 to 55 and allow three additional major airlines to join the six now operating at the airport. Continental was on the top of the waiting list of airlines seeking admission. The other newcomers will be Jet America and America West.
America West has announced that starting April 1 it will make three flights a day from John Wayne to Phoenix, while Jet America has yet to announce its route plans.
Continental, which has been in reorganization under bankruptcy court protection since 1983, said its debut at John Wayne is expected to assist the airline’s financial turnaround. Continental’s flights to Houston will be the first nonstop service from Orange County; there are stops on the Orange County-Houston flights currently offered by American Airlines and Frontier Airlines.
Also, Wednesday the county supervisors gave the go-ahead to WestAir Airlines to start operating at John Wayne today. The Chico-based commuter airline will offer three round-trip flights a day between Orange County and Fresno. The Orange County-Fresno route has been without service since Dec. 13, 1984, when Far West Airlines ran out of money and suspended operations indefinitely.
Business Travelers
At Continental’s press conference Wednesday in Buena Park, Robert H. Slater, the airline’s vice president of sales, said Continental’s recovery strategy calls for it to serve airports that, like Orange County’s, cater heavily to business travelers. He said employees in Orange County’s high-technology and energy companies, especially the Irvine-based Fluor Corp., frequently travel to the Houston area. He said Continental is gearing its Orange County service to the business traveler, including offering first-class passenger sections.
But Slater said that litigation related to the bankruptcy may prevent Continental from getting two additional flight slots each day at John Wayne by using the latest generation of Boeing “quiet jets.” As an incentive to airlines to take steps to limit noise, the county has proposed making extra flight slots available to airlines whose planes meet special low-noise takeoff standards.
Airline Wants to Grow
Slater said that some unions representing Continental employees and a group of the airline’s creditors have filed a lawsuit to stop Continental’s plans to lease at least 12 Boeing 737-300 jets. The new Boeing tentatively met the county low-noise criteria during testing by AirCal last Saturday, although at 30% less than full passenger load.
Until the litigation is settled, Slater said, Continental intends to fly McDonnell Douglas Super-80 aircraft at John Wayne.
The litigants, Slater said, want Continental to economize by limiting its growth. Continental executives, on the other hand, believe expansion is in the airline’s financial interest. “If Continental has a shortcoming today,” Slater said, “it is the inability to grow as quickly as we need to.”
Continental’s fares on its nonstop Orange County-Houston flights will be no higher than for its Houston flights departing from Los Angeles International Airport, where it faces more competition from other airlines.
Fares as Low as $95
Its unrestricted, one-way coach fares to Houston will be $95 for off-peak flights and $295 for peak flights and first class, Slater said. By contrast, he said, American Airlines currently charges $341 for an unrestricted, one-way coach ticket from Orange County to Houston, and $443 for first class, with passengers having to make a stop in Dallas. Also, Frontier Airlines offers a flight through Denver to Houston for $220 one way.
Continental’s schedule calls for 7:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. daily departures from John Wayne. Return trips will leave Houston for Orange County at 10:45 a.m. and 7:55 p.m.
Slater said that Continental already is well on its way to financial health. Last year, he said, the airline earned $50.6 million, compared to a $160-million loss in 1983. He said Continental has requested court approval of a plan to pay its $600 million in debts over 12 years. If the plan meets the approval of the court and a committee of creditors, he said, the airline expects to emerge from reorganization by July.
