What I would do buy a bunch of 737-200's and 727's (cheaper to buy now; worry about maintenance and fuel later if I'm still in business). DC-9's would be OK but the F seats aren't as wide, so I'm going with the classic Boeing.

Coach 3x3 and F 2x2, as usual. F is 40" pitch, and coach 32" pitch. All fares are one-way. All F fares are exactly double the coach fare for the same trip.

I decided on F=2*Y because each F seat is 1.875 coach seats (6/4*40/32). Charging 2 instead of 1.875 covers the extra catering.

F will have meals or snacks depending on distance (snack at the least). Coach will have a meal if F has a meal.

Since most of the big-city markets are either dominated by WN or a major's hub (e.g., AUS-ELP, CVG-LGA), I'll hit whatever is left. LGA-TUL, DAL-ICT, IAH-GGG (that's Tulsa, OK, Wichita, KS, and Longview, TX). It should be no surprise that those markets currently have high fares.

By piecing together all these routes, obviously I won't have one or two big hubs, but I will have connections available similar to what WN does. WN is commonly called "point-to-point", but it doesn't mean you can't change planes. There are plenty of routes on WN where you must change planes or take a one-stop direct flight.

WN doesn't serve places like ICT and GGG because: 1) they can't have 10 flights a day given the demand in and out of those places; 2) they depend on people willing to drive for hours just to fly WN.

JS Airlines will have to charge more than WN to cover the cost of hiring people to serve relatively fewer people boarding JS at GGG versus WN at DAL, HOU or LIT, but given the fares charged by Eagle, I'm sure I can make money.

I suppose no unions would be best, but I'm not hung up on that. If an airline with poor labor relations could magically make the union disappear, they would still have poor labor relations, but without the strikes. Strikes are pretty rare, but unhappy employees are there 24/7. Happy employees make for happy customers.

What sets JS Airlines apart from the other airlines is that the customer can choose between non-stop and saving money. On other airlines, even WN, the fare is solely a function of origin/destination. That means some people get to pay a low fare for a non-stop flight (e.g., LGA-DFW advance purchase), while other people pay a high fare to change planes (e.g., LGA-TUL).

For example: suppose I'm operating one flight RIC-OKC-COS-GEG, and another flight RIC-TRI-MEM-XNA-OKC. If you want to fly RIC to OKC, the non-stop will cost you more than the three-stopper. The cheap passengers will take up the other seats that I can't fill at TRI, MEM (NW hub) and XNA.


FF program: mileage based on origin/destination only. It's a cross between miles per flight and trip credit like WN. Miles for confirmed F upgrades or award tickets (F or coach). NO ELITE LEVELS. It's elitist, complicated, and produces a lot of stress for passengers and gate agents before boarding! Besides, you won't need elite status when my check-in lines are reasonable and the FA's help people stow their second carry-on under the seat in front of them.

Low miles for capacity controlled upgrades/awards; high miles for a "rule buster".


edited to add: no video (no int'l or long-haul domestic flights); passenger phones in each F seat and one phone in the rear for $1.00 a minute; audio with free headsets and pilot/ATC communications a.k.a. "channel 9" on a certain other airline.

[This message has been edited by JS (edited 02-25-2002).]