Oklahoma Carrier Eyes Coastal Destinations For Future Growth

Tulsa, Okla.-based Great Plains Airlines plans to put into service the turboprops it needs to turn a profit for the first time. The regional carrier has agreed to lease three 32-passenger Fairchild Dornier 328-100 turboprops from debis Air Finance, a Dutch aircraft sales and leasing firm, which is also financing the lease. The turboprops should go into service in September, following certification by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The airline now flies two 32-seat Fairchild Dornier 328JETs from Tulsa to Oklahoma City, Nashville, Tenn., and Albuquerque, N.M.

"We had two airplanes before we got these three, and if those two airplanes were full every flight we flew we would never make [a profit]," said Steve Turnbo, a spokesman for Great Plains. "The business plan calls for us to reach profitability at the four-plane mark on regular scheduling, with a fifth plane that we're going to use for backup and for charters. We believe we can be profitable by the first quarter of 2004 under this business model."

DaimlerChrysler's [NYSE: DCX] debis Air Finance unit will lease the aircraft to Great Plains for an initial nine-month trial period with two, one-year renewal options. The aircraft will allow Great Plains to add about 15 pilots, additional flight attendants and flights, and service to other cities. Great Plains has been losing about $500,000 a month with the two-jet fleet, Turnbo told CRAN.

The turboprops carry the same number of passengers and have a similar range (920 miles) as the Fairchild jets. Neither type of plane will allow Great Plains to reach the coastal destinations it said it would serve when it received millions of dollars in public assistance to begin flying in 2001.

Company officials now are conducting a review of coastal flights and evaluating aircraft that have longer ranges. Great Plains said it is also interested in flights to Washington Dulles International from the Oklahoma market. A decision on coastal flights is expected some time later this year.

"We're really working feverishly to figure out what we're going to do with these three new airplanes and we plan to make some announcements in the coming weeks as we finalize our decisions," Turnbo said. "We'll use them to enhance existing routes and to create additional routes."

Great Plains wants to use two of the planes to increase the frequency of flights at the four cities it now serves. It also is exploring the possibility of adding service to Colorado Springs, Colo., and Austin, Texas, destinations the airline served previously. New destinations could include San Antonio, Texas, New Orleans, La., or Little Rock, Ark. (CRAN, Jan. 13). The carrier plans to keep one of the new turboprops in reserve for charter flights and in case other planes in the fleet are out of service for maintenance.

"We're looking at several options ... various destinations within this region," Turnbo said.

>>Contact: Steve Turnbo, of Schnake, Turnbo Frank, Inc., 918-582-9151.<<