The skies have been friendly to fledgling Salt Lake-based WinAir Airlines.
Since the carrier's first flight last Super Bowl Sunday, it has added employees, planes, flights and destination cities at a rapid pace -- faster than projected in its original growth plan.But the company's success won't translate into additional service out of Salt Lake International Airport -- at least not anytime soon -- executive vice president Steve Kasteler told the Utah Air Travel Commission this week.
WinAir, primarily a charter service, currently offers daily connections between Salt Lake City and Long Beach, Calif. It recently expanded that service to four flights a day.
"We've been asked by passengers if we would fly out of Salt Lake City to perhaps Oakland, perhaps to San Diego, Phoenix," Kasteler told the commission Wednesday during its monthly meeting at the Alta Club.
"Our plans right now don't call for any further expansion out of Salt Lake. However, we continue to look at opportunities out of here, but we don't want to get in a situation where we're going up against any of the major carriers."
The company now offers 28 daily flights between Long Beach and four other cities -- Salt Lake City, Oakland, Sacramento and Las Vegas. So far, the Salt Lake-Long Beach route has been the most popular with 50-55 percent of seats occupied on an average flight.
"We're in business to take a little bit of the crumbs off the table and offer a convenient and affordable alternative to Southern California and the Los Angeles Basin," Kasteler said. "We just want to find a niche, stay in the niche and make it work for everybody."
That niche is widening. In February, the airline plans to begin service from Long Beach to Seattle, San Jose, Portland and Laughlin, Nev.
WinAir also has contracted with the Utah Jazz to be the NBA team's exclusive charter carrier for the next three years, Kasteler said. It is working on an agreement with the IHL's Utah Grizzlies, he said.
WinAir had just five employees when it incorporated in July of 1997. It now had about 500, based primarily in Long Beach and Salt Lake City. Both its corporate headquarters and reservations center are in Salt Lake City.
The company had planned to have four Boeing 737s in its fleet by the end of 1998 and increase to eight by the end of this year. Instead, it already has nine 737s and hopes to have a total of 15 aircraft by the end of the year.
Kasteler said WinAir will continue to offer $39 one-way tickets between Salt Lake City and Long Beach until mid-February. The permanent price for that journey will eventually settle in the $59-$69 range, he said.