As the largest operator of Cessna 402s, Cape Air on Aug. 1 began a new chapter flying ATR-42s in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The seasonal carrier based in Hyannis, Mass., earned its Part 121 certification on July 26, enabling it to fly the 46-passenger aircraft. The 15-year-old carrier had exclusively flown the nine-seat Cessnas on routes along Cape Cod, in Florida and in the Caribbean. It has 50 Cessnas in its fleet (CRAN, Feb. 16; May 7).

Cape Air has leased three ATRs from its code-share partner, Continental Airlines [CAL]. Two of the planes are already in Guam and the third should arrive within two weeks, said Dan Wolf, the carrier's founder and president.

The carrier began its Guam service on July 1 using two Cessna 402s that were ferried down to Micronesia. Cape Air has been flying two daily flights between Guam and the island of Rota, he said. The Cessnas will remain in Guam, he said, to serve as backups to the ATRs and for other possible routes.

Wolf said Cape Air would fly the 40-minute flight between Guam and Saipan five times a day. It will fly twice a day between Guam and Rota - a 20-minute flight.

Cape Air is flying the Micronesia routes using the Continental Micronesia livery. "There is risk on our part," Wolf said. "This is not a capacity buy. We are filling routes that have been served by bigger airplanes so in our view that mitigates the risk tremendously. These are proven routes."

Continental has been using Boeing [BA] 737s on the routes with "acceptable" load factors. Wolf said that Continental wanted to redeploy the 737s due to the very short stage lengths they were flying.

Cape Air flies Continental Connection routes in Florida and it has a code-share relationship with Continental in the Caribbean.

In Micronesia, Continental provides the ground crews at Guam and Saipan. Cape Air has hired seven people to handle the Rota station. Wolf said the operation includes nine pilots, six flight attendants and seven mechanics. Russell Price, a Cape Air board member, has been appointed as manager of the Guam operations.

Most of the pilots have been Cape Air veterans who wanted a chance to fly the larger planes, Wolf said. About half of the mechanics, he added, transferred from its other stateside operations. Local residents make up the balance of the staff, he noted. The new operation has created pilot vacancies at its three other base stations, he added.

"A lot of new territory is being forged by us" with the new ATRs, he said. Flight attendants are new to the airline. While not an in-flight food service, the carrier offers chocolate-chip cookies as the passengers board the planes, Wolf said.

The Part 121 certification "puts us in another universe in the airline world," which opens new opportunities for the airline, he said. However, "right now our focus is on getting this operation successfully going. We have no other plans at this moment. However, we are all ears for other opportunities."

Cape Air "invested conservatively a couple of million [dollars]" to meet the Part 121 standards and the requirements of the new aircraft. The investment includes new equipment, tools and training. "It is a huge change," he said. "We have been spending 15 years to make ourselves stable."

A year ago, he said, Cape Air made the decision to look for new growth opportunities, including the possibility of establishing a fourth base. As it was seeking new opportunities, Continental approached the airline about flying the Micronesia routes. It was at that time, he said, that the airline decided to upgrade its certification to the Part 121 status. "We made the formal application in February. We think the [review] process went very well and the FAA was a wonderful partner. The timeframe was realistic."

>>Contact: Dan Wolf, Cape Air, (508) 790-3122.<<