Republic Airways Announces Order for up to 80 Bombardier CSeries Aircraft



Press Release Source: Republic Airways Holdings Inc. On Thursday February 25, 2010, 8:00 am
INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET - News) announced today it has signed a purchase agreement for 40 CS300 jets, part of the next-generation CSeries aircraft being developed by Bombardier. Republic also has options for up to an additional 40 aircraft. The aircraft, which will be configured in a single-cabin, with two-by-three seating for 138 passengers, including 25 STRETCH seats, is scheduled for delivery beginning in the second quarter of 2015.

The aircraft are powered by Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines. Republic has signed an exclusive 15-year PureSolution maintenance contract with Pratt & Whitney for the support of the engines.

“Republic is pleased to be the North American launch customer for the CSeries aircraft,” said Bryan Bedford, chairman, president and CEO of Republic Airways. “This aircraft will bring next-generation advantages to all phases of its mission, including passenger comfort, dependability, efficiency and economics.”

“The CS300 will help us dramatically reduce our fuel consumption and impact on the environment. Our customers will also appreciate the generous amount of personal space with wider aisles, increased shoulder room, improved storage bins and extra-large windows,” Bedford added.

“The CSeries aircraft program is a significant part of Bombardier’s future, and we’re delighted that Republic Airways will be part of it,” said Gary R. Scott, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “This major CSeries order from our first North American customer reflects the confidence Republic Airways has in Bombardier’s ability to deliver a game-changing aircraft and to service the airline’s requirements.”

Republic Airways Holdings, based in Indianapolis, Indiana is an airline holding company that owns Chautauqua Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Lynx Aviation, Midwest Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America, collectively "the airlines." The airlines offer scheduled passenger service on approximately 1,600 flights daily to 118 cities in 44 states, Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico under branded operations at Frontier, Midwest, and through fixed-fee airline services agreements with five major U.S. airlines. The fixed-fee flights are operated under an airline partner brand, such as AmericanConnection, Continental Express, Delta Connection, United Express, and US Airways Express. The airlines currently employ approximately 11,000 aviation professionals and operate 283 aircraft.


---------


ReutersTORONTO – Bombardier Inc. has signed a deal worth about $3.06 billion with Republic Airways Holding Inc. for 40 of its new CSeries aircraft.

Bombardier, the world’s No. 3 civil aircraft maker, said Thursday the agreement also includes options for an additional 40 aircraft. If those options were exercised, the value of the deal would jump to about $6.34 billion.

Montreal-based Bombardier has recorded firm orders for a total of 90 CSeries aircraft, including the Republic Airways order, another from Deutsche Lufthansa AG for 30 aircraft and another from Lease Corp International Group for 20 aircraft.

It also has booked options for an additional 90 CSeries planes.

The single-aisle 100- to 149-seat CSeries aircraft begin entry into the market in 2013.


Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Bomba...#ixzz0gYb6sm2m

Wow...impressive.

These aircraft are supposed to be very modern and comfortable. They are also supposed to be ultra-efficient, and have a major advantage on the cost side.

http://www.nowisthefuture.com/En/

Impressive, indeed!

Awesome, as long as none of these end up on the side of whatever F9/YX become I'm glad.

I'm pretty confident that these are for the branded operation, since they said they would come with stretch seating.

That's really unfortunate as it seemed to me at least that Frontier excelled with their Airbus operations, this almost seems a step backwards from the direction they were going with the fleet. They ordered A320's because the added capacity was needed on certain routes and cut down the A318 fleet size because they didn't need that level of capacity combined with the operating costs for the A318. Frontier was trying to get away from the smaller aircraft they operated in favor of bigger aircraft, and now an announcement that they're ordering more A318 sized aircraft just makes very little sense. Just a guess, but it seems to me that perhaps Republic is going to use the Airbus fleet on routes where the capacity and range is absolutely needed and the CSeries where the capacity isn't needed nor the range.

Let's hope Bombardier can deliver on their range/fuel burn numbers otherwise this large order may seem like a bad idea when the time comes. Not to say I don't think it's a bad idea now, but I suppose when you're flying in and out of Milwaukee smaller planes might be needed.

CS300 (138) > A319 (136) > A318 (120)

Only the A320 (162) is larger.

Looks like a good choice... More of a small mainline jet than an RJ.

IMO, BB should abolish F9 and YX, brand "Republic" and start a WN-like operation. More than anything, however, the corporate culture need an overhaul to make this transition work. gain, look to WN and CAL.

Is there anywhere stating that Republic plans to put 138 seats on the CS300? I imagine if they're going to do stretch seating that we would expect more around 126-132 or so, putting it right between the A318 and A319. The Airbus fleet has a minimum of 900nm more range than the Bombardier and as much as 1,400nm more range, so I think it's fair to say the CS300 would be more of a large regional jet rather than a small mainline, it just doesn't have the range to match the Airbus A320 family.

Edit: Nevermind read the article again. Still seems to me that with the lower range you're just basically making it a short range mainline jet. Either way Republic needs to plan on keeping the A320 family around if it plans to operate some of Frontier's longer, heavier flights.

These planes are most likely replacements for the A318. the 318 financial dynamics did not pan out as expected for Frontier and they stopped ordering them. There is a need for a 120-130 seatish plane, but the economics of the 318 just were not there, I understand. I would expect Frontier to fly them, and depending on any agreement with the YX pilots, they might get them too. Or, they would just be branded with the brand that survives any brand consolidation.

And, Pigeye01, I don't see 'Republic" as the brand. There is no name recognition with the public for such a brand. There is a lot more recognition for either Frontier or Midwest.

I think the Airbus is being phased out with this purchase. Can't see the Branded side running Embraer, Airbus and Bombardier aircraft.

The best airline model in the USA is Southwest. One aircraft type (737), one set of repair parts (737), one set of FA galley equipment (737), one passenger seating arrangement (737) and one set of commonly trained pilots (737).

Let's hope they really are phasing the Airbus fleet out, that way Bedford will have to pull back on some of Frontier's longer, higher-fare flights. It just seems like poor business sense to me to replace a fleet of aircraft where the average age is under 5 years old. That said Bedford seems like a complete loon as well as a poor businessman so no surprise there.

Regarding range, see:
http://www.bombardier.com/files/en/s...01-IGK7-HR.JPG

CS300 ER is promised 5463 km nominal range. How does A318 compare?

Regarding interior, see:
http://www.bombardier.com/files/en/s...01-IGK7-HR.jpg

145 seats in single class. Hm... let us replace 6 rows of seats at 30 inch pitch with 5 rows at 36 inches pitch - what will we get?

As far as I'm aware the order is for the CS300, not the Extended Range ER, which has a 2,200nm range. Just for comparison:

CS300: 2,200nm
CS300ER: 2,950nm
A318: 3,100nm
A319: 3,600nm
A320: 3,200nm

It will be more than five years before Republic gets their first one. All but three Airbus leases expire by 2017.

If Republic believes they might need an aircraft with more than 2,200 nm range, I am confident they will be smart enough to order the 2,950 nm version.

If you are the fan of Frontier you claim to be, why would you want them to pull back on their longer flights?

All of Republic's routes except the Alaska routes are less than 2,000 statute miles, which can easily be handled by a standard CS300.

Just exactly how does a 19-year-old go about getting quoted in the Denver Post, anyway?