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Jetsgo
Airlines Makes it Plain and Simple
Have ticket, will travel? Jetsgo makes no bones
about having a truly simple flight plan.It all
begins with keeping things real - real people, real
needs, real value. And its affordable, because the
founding CEO has been in the business long enough
to understand that people don't fly to make major
airlines rich, but to enrich their own lives. So,
hey, Jetsgo and simplifly! For more information and
booking. Canadian airline industry veteran Michel
Leblanc said his new discount carrier Jetsgo will
take flight on June 12, becoming the latest player
to take on market leader Air Canada. Jetsgo
will launch with just three planes, offering
low-fare, no-frills daily service between Toronto,
Montreal, Halifax, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Weekly
flights to Stephenville, Newfoundland, and Sydney,
Nova Scotia, will also be available in the summer
months.
 Leblanc
said the service will be similar to Southwest
Airlines, whose low-cost model has been been widely
emulated.
Jetsgo will
not issue paper tickets and passengers will have to
pay extra for food and beverages.
By starting
small and keeping costs low, Leblanc is hoping to
escape the fate of former Air Canada rivals such as
Canada 3000, which went bankrupt last year amid
intense competition and the impact of the Sept. 11
attacks.
"We have a
cost structure to be effective, profitable,
competition," Leblanc told reporters at the
airline's launch in Toronto. "We're forecasting to
fly over half a million passengers for the the
first year, with a projection of annual revenue
around C$100 million ($65.3 million)." Jetsgo
will operate three 160-seat Boeing MD-83s and a
fourth plane will be delivered in the fall. Leblanc
said the airline will use the same make of plane
throughout to keep maintenance costs
low.
Leblanc said
Air Canada was not operating on a true low-cost
model. Jetsgo's workforce of 200 is not unionized
and will subcontract services such as baggage
handling. "Customers want a true discount
airline, not the imagery of a discount airline - a
true discount airline that offers day in, day out
low fares competitive with the buses, with the
trains, and with your cars," he
said.
The Jetsgo
president said he did not consider WestJet to be a
competitor because Jetsgo is targeting eastern
Canadian customers. But he said they could become
rivals as both companies
expand. Official
Web Site
More airline
profiles to come on this web site and in our
printed magazines.
Snowbirds
Take Note
Read about
Warm Weather "Escape the Winter" Vacations and the
Airlines that get you there. Air Highways Magazine
profiles Travel Agents and Tour companies in our
Awards Program. Destinations include the Dixie
States, Florida, Louisiana and the Great Southwest,
the Caribbean, Mexico, South America, and Africa.
And who knows Africa better than Muguette
Goufrani,
who has lived in West Africa, Tunisia and Morocco,
working with Air Afrique, Royal Air Maroc, Matson
Cruise Lines and others.
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