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JBU to cut back KFLL service if new runway isn't built
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Possible good news for SWA? http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business...ness-headlines JetBlue says it will cut back Fort Lauderdale expansion if new runway isn't built By Marcia Heroux Pounds Business Writer October 9, 2003 JetBlue Airways will curtail its expansion at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport if a second runway isn't built as planned, Chief Executive David Neeleman said at a meeting of CEOs on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale. Neeleman said JetBlue, which made its first flight from New York to Fort Lauderdale nearly four years ago, was looking at Miami for expansion. The growing airline, which expects to hit $1 billion in revenues at the end of its third full year of operation, is buying 200 additional 100-seater planes and expects to expand service from Florida. JetBlue is starting a daily flight to Boston from Fort Lauderdale starting Jan. 16. Neeleman said JetBlue also plans to fly out of other New York airports; the airline currently operates out of John F. Kennedy International Airport. Neeleman brought up the controversial second runway in speaking to South Florida CEOs and top executives attending a regional meeting of The Executive Committee, an international organization of CEOs. The low-cost airline's success has stemmed partially from its ability to turn around flights quickly. JetBlue maintains that Fort Lauderdale's current runway is too short for modern airliners. "We're not looking for a runway that goes out and messes with the alligators," Neeleman said. An 8,000-foot runway is needed at a minimum and a 9,000-foot runway would be better, the CEO said. JetBlue is the fifth-largest carrier at the Fort Lauderdale airport with more than 1 million passengers in 2002 and so far this year. If a second runway isn't built, Jet Blue will have to rethink additional growth at the airport, Neeleman said. "It will hurt the economy here," he told the South Florida CEOs. "Don't allow a few timid commissioners to allow this to stop." The Broward County Commission has been deeply divided over the airport expansion. A final report on three alternatives to a 9,000-foot runway is scheduled for Nov. 17. Broward County Administrator Roger Desjarlais said the question is not whether there will be a second runway but its length and location. "The board hasn't slowed down 10 minutes on its plans to build another runway. ? I feel comfortable reassuring [Neeleman] and others that the board is going to move forward with the building of another runway." Commissioners are set to decide by mid-December whether to proceed with plans for a second 9,000-foot runway on the airport's south side, or pursue another option. Alternatives include a shorter southern runway, a new runway next to the current one on the north side or a reconfigured diagonal runway. Critics say that the second runway would harm nearby neighborhoods, parks and wetlands. BL. - -- Brad Littlejohn | Email: Unix Systems Administrator, | Web + NewsMaster, BOFH.. Smeghead! | http://www.sbcglobal.net/~tyketto PGP: 1024D/E319F0BF 6980 AAD6 7329 E9E6 D569 F620 C819 199A E319 F0BF -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/i1cGyBkZmuMZ8L8RAgDXAJ489GnUHkVOdo9DlfpnulTeDF5WmQ CfdF05 ehM4WzRTdzRKiea8NWn/g9s= =qXlO -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
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