Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 19, 1990 TAG: 9006190266
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke's search for another major airline to serve the new regional airport terminal will bring Eastern back, 12 years after the company ended a Pittsburgh-Roanoke-Miami flight.
Eastern, expanding in its efforts to work its way out of reorganization in bankruptcy, plans to fly a DC9-31 with 99 seats on the new Atlanta flights. The jet has a cruising speed of 520 mph; it will have 87 coach and 12 first-class seats.
Passengers, especially business travelers, have asked for more service since USAir, Roanoke's only major carrier, took over Piedmont Airlines. Commuter flights have increased through Roanoke amid complaints about late and canceled USAir flights.
The new flights are scheduled to leave Roanoke at 7:15 a.m., noon and 7:15 p.m. The non-stop flight will take 1 hour and 27 minutes. Return flights are scheduled to leave Atlanta at 9:30 a.m., 4:30 and 8:05 p.m.
ASA, a Delta commuter line providing the only other direct service between Roanoke and Atlanta, recently increased its daily schedule from six to seven flights. Its turboprop planes seat about 35 people.
Eastern plans to announce the new service Wednesday morning, said Jacqueline Shuck, executive director of Roanoke Regional Airport.
Eastern operated flights through Roanoke for many years until the airline closed its office in 1971, but it continued air service here until October 1978. American Airlines operated flights through Roanoke until 1962.
"I might be one of the first people on that Atlanta flight," said Fred Shaftman, chairman of BellSouth Communications, a Roanoke company owned by BellSouth of Atlanta. Employees of his company and its parent, as well as Norfolk Southern and other businesses, often travel from Roanoke to Atlanta. "I am thrilled to death," he said when he heard of the new service.
ASA is "quite busy and doing quite well," Shaftman said. He predicted that travelers "will jump at the chance for jet flights. . . . It's clear the demand is there."
Atlanta is the nearest major hub airport to Roanoke that gives access to flights across the country, he said.
"When you have a jet competing with a propjet, the jet will win every time," said Ted Moomaw, president of World Travel Service in Roanoke. But if travelers are going beyond Atlanta on Delta flights, ASA may be able to keep their business, Moomaw said.
Eastern is "pretty strong" in its efforts to regain its national standing, he said. `I don't think there's a reason why anyone should be cautious about flying Eastern now."
Eastern also plans to start serving Dallas-Fort Worth and Harrisburg, Pa., in September, after starting at Houston in July.
by CNB