Postscript – PeoplExpress
News reports on September 25 advised that the new PeoplExpress had lost half of its fleet on September 19 (consisting of two planes). The next day the company succumbed to subsequent operational challenges, resulting in cancellation of all service and stopped answering its phones. The company advises that it will “relaunch” October 16.
A few other commentators have observed that a company selling tickets without owning or directly operating the equipment used to fly the routes shouldn’t be called an “airline.” Whatever PeoplExpress might be, the media miss the point of an experiment so poorly conceived, planned, and operated.
One leased plane–down from two. A schedule with routes from Boston to New Orleans. Very few contingency plans–and inadequate one at that.
If this were a travel agency project, the criticism would be intense.
Sources:
- PeoplExpress Starts Operations June 30, 2014 (wardellblog.com)
- PeoplExpress apologizes online for weekend delays (wardellblog.com)
- People Express plane hit by truck, leaving Newport News-based company with one plane, delays (dailypress.com)
- Flights canceled today for People Express (dailypress.com)