Friday, June 28, 2002 | 11:20 a.m.
Spirit Airlines, which inaugurated nonstop air service between Las Vegas and Detroit Thursday night, will add a second round-trip flight in November.
The Mirimar, Fla.-based carrier, which calls itself the largest privately held airline in the United States, hopes to capitalize on the 2002 holiday season with the new flight, which will continue on to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and also connect in Detroit to Spirit flights to Atlantic City and New York's LaGuardia Airport.
The airline is offering an introductory fare of $198 round trip to those East Coast destinations for travel between Nov. 14 and Jan. 31. Tickets must be purchased by July 17.
One of Spirit's marketing tactics is to offer tickets without an advance-purchase requirement or a Saturday-night stay.
Spirit, which started in 1980 as Charter One, a Detroit-based casino junket flier to Atlantic City, began scheduled service in 1993. Today, it has a fleet of 24 twin-engine MD-80 and DC-9 aircraft operating 100 daily flights between 15 cities. Its primary market is between the Midwest and Florida. It has annual sales of $450 million.
Recently, Spirit began expanding to the West, with routes to Los Angeles; Oakland, Calif.; Denver and Las Vegas.
Tom Anderson, chief marketing officer of Spirit, said the airline's growth plan calls for it to double its size within six years with a goal of having 20 to 30 destinations, 50 to 60 aircraft and $900 million in sales by 2008.
Anderson said the airline is positioned to expand into the Caribbean and Latin America. It already serves San Juan, Puerto Rico. The company also hopes to acquire aircraft with a longer range, since none of its existing fleet can fly nonstop to Las Vegas or the West Coast from Florida.
Establishing a link between Detroit and Las Vegas could become important for business travelers, Anderson said, since some Las Vegas casino companies operate properties in the Motor City.
"We hope to evolve from a 90-10 (90 percent leisure, 10 percent business) carrier to an 80-20," Anderson said.
Daily service to McCarran International Airport leaves Detroit at 9:45 p.m., and arrives at 11 p.m. and leaves for Detroit at 12:20 a.m., arriving there at 7 a.m. When it begins Nov. 14, the new flight will leave Detroit at 10:25 a.m., arriving at McCarran at 11:50 a.m. The return flight leaves at 1 p.m., arriving there at 7:50 p.m.
Spirit is one of six airlines that have applications pending for a federal government-backed loan guarantee.
Anderson said Spirit is seeking a $54 million guarantee on a $60 million loan.
"We're cautiously optimistic about our chances," Anderson said of the application, which went to the Air Transportation Stabilization Board March 28, more than a month before Las Vegas-based National Airlines filed for a similar loan guarantee.
Like National, Spirit hopes to learn if it will receive a loan guarantee within days.
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