Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 14, 1994 TAG: 9412140127
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But the move is not likely to have significant impact on air travel here because of the airline's small share of the market.
The loss of the three American Eagle flights daily between Roanoke and American Airlines' hub at Raleigh-Durham comes as a result of the commuter airline's decision to halt all operations at the North Carolina airport. The three flights represent roughly 100 passenger seats daily and 5 percent of the passenger traffic out of Roanoke, according to airport commission statistics.
American Eagle's decision to pull out of Raleigh-Durham was precipitated by the Federal Aviation Administration's order that ATR aircraft flown by American Eagle and other airlines no longer be flown in regions of the country where icing could occur.
Icing on the wings of an American Eagle ATR is thought to have caused an Oct. 31 crash near Chicago, which killed 68 people.
American Eagle flies only a few of the ATR aircraft at Raleigh-Durham. However, its other planes there - such as the Saab 340 and Jetstream Super 31 - must be redeployed to other airports to compensate for ATRs that now must be moved to destinations in warmer climates to comply with the FCC order. No ATRs served Roanoke.
"The combination of these ATR restrictions, plus poor financial results at the Raleigh-Durham hub, forced us to make a decision we hoped we would not have to make," John Hayes, president of Flagship Airlines, the American Eagle operator at Raleigh-Durham, said in a company statement.
American Eagle served 27 cities from the Raleigh-Durham hub. Service to Charleston, Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head, S.C., was discontinued immediately. Other service from the hub will be discontinued either in late December or early January, a company spokesman said.
There are no plans to serve Roanoke from another American Eagle or American Airlines hub.
In October, 2,033 passengers boarded American Eagle flights in Roanoke. For the first 10 months of the year, the airline had boarded 14,605 in Roanoke, an increase of 4 percent over the same period a year earlier.
American Eagle will protect passengers who hold tickets for the discontinued flights by securing them seats on other airlines' flights, the carrier said. Affected passengers should act quickly, though, because other airlines are filling seats quickly, an American Eagle customer-service representative said.
American Eagle employs 778 people at Raleigh-Durham. Some will be reassigned to other cities.
The airline's eight employees in Roanoke will be offered the opportunity to transfer to another airport or a severance package, airline spokesman Tim Smith said. The choices will be designed to meet each employee's needs, he said.
by CNB