Fallout from National failure extends beyond passengers

Grace Leong

Friday, Nov. 8, 2002 | 10:57 a.m.

McCarran International Airport's 120 restaurants and shops face declining sales because of the sudden shutdown of National Airlines, but the Las Vegas airport's concessionaires hope that JetBlue and other expanding airlines will ease their pain.

Efforts to fill the void left by National started Thursday and continued today.

JetBlue said Thursday it would speed up previously announced plans to launch Las Vegas-New York flights. And Florida-based Spirit Airlines this morning announced plans to begin flights between Las Vegas and Chicago in December.

JetBlue said it's moving forward its inaugural service between Las Vegas and New York's John F. Kennedy International airport to Nov. 15 from January because of National's closure.

The airline, which plans to operate four daily flights on the route by March 2003, will add a second daily flight on Jan. 7 and two more flights in February and March.

Spirit, which already offers daily service between Las Vegas and Detroit, will offer red-eye service between O'Hare and McCarran International airports beginning Dec. 19.

A spokeswoman for Miramar-based Spirit said Spirit, which has 98 daily departures primarily on the East Coast and in the Midwest, would have a flight leaving Chicago at 9:30 p.m., arriving in Las Vegas at 11:30 p.m. The return flight would leave McCarran at 12:40 a.m., arriving in Chicago at 6:10 a.m.

"We're pleased to be expanding our service to and from Las Vegas," said Tom Anderson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer in a release announcing the service. "In light of National Airlines' cessation of service, we are hopeful that we can be of assistance to passengers looking to book for the holidays and beyond."

The airline said it would offer introductory fares of $79 one way to Chicago for travel between Dec. 19 and Feb. 11.

Spirit, which has a daily flight to Detroit and will add a second next week, has connecting service to Atlantic City, New York's La Guardia Airport and the Florida cities of Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers, For Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The company also serves Myrtle Beach, S.C., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In the meantime, managers at businesses like Don Alejandro's Texan Grill and The Candy Shoppe on the walkway to McCarran's C and D gates said they expect a decline in business because of National's failure, though they can't yet specify how much foot traffic in the airport will drop.

Gate D is the entry point for passengers on National, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Northwest, Midwest Express, Spirit and United Airlines. Gate C is the entry point for passengers on Southwest Airlines, McCarran's dominant carrier.

Alejandro Alvarez, owner of Don Alejandro's, said he is worried about whether his 65-worker restaurant, which honors National's vouchers, will be reimbursed for National vouchers.

"Typically, when National has flight or mechanical delays, they issue vouchers that will cover about $5 to $10 of the passenger's restaurant bill. At the end of the month, we would turn in those vouchers and receipts and get reimbursed," he said. "When National filed bankruptcy in 2000, we lost $3,400-$4,000 worth of voucher reimbursements. But we continued to accept their vouchers out of goodwill."

Alvarez, who said 25 percent of the restaurant's traffic is generated by National and 60 percent by Southwest, said he may consider opening his restaurant later in order to reduce costs.

Alvarez said he hopes the airport will consider relocating JetBlue from the A gates to the D gates vacated by National.

"We feed an average of 1,200 people a day, that's about 240 people a day from National or $2,400 a day," he said. "Replacement traffic (is needed) from Gates C or D, otherwise it's no benefit to us if the passengers go to Gates A and B or the international portion of the airport."

Brian Ayala, vice president of Ayala's Inc. of Las Vegas, owner of The Candy Shoppe, one of five candy and specialty gift shops at McCarran, agreed that business would improve if more airlines moved to the D gates.

"Prior to National being at Gate D, our area was a ghost town with sparse traffic. When National arrived in 1999, that provided a significant boost to our business. Our business at Gate D area grew along with National's growth," he said.

Ayala, who opened three Candy Shoppes, Ayala's News & Gifts and Magnet Mania at McCarran in 1985, said the shop nearest the D gates will be hurt most by National's closure.

"My employees estimated a 25 percent to 33 percent drop in sales at that shop (Thursday), partly because of National's closure," he said.

Ayala, who said that candy shop opens from 6 a.m. through 1 a.m., said he hoped Continental Airlines and JetBlue would be moved from the A gates to National's D gates.

"I'm hoping JetBlue will move to Gate D because JetBlue's flight to JFK will probably leave around 1 a.m. If that's the case and JetBlue ends up at Gate D, it will be good for us," he said.

Hilarie Grey, McCarran's public affairs manager, said several airlines have expressed interest in leasing National's ticket counter space and gates, but she declined to reveal further details.

Grey said revenues from food, beverage, retail and advertising concessionaires totalled $30 million or 11 percent of the airport's total revenues of $274 million for the fiscal year ended June 30.

Annual revenues from gaming concessionaires totalled $32 million or 12 percent of total airport revenues, she said.

McCarran said it is owed $7 million in rental fees for National's gates, ticket counter space, holding pads for its planes, its office building, landing fees and passenger taxes. The Clark County-owned airport doesn't expect to recover that sum, but has tried to minimize the problem by doing financial planning around National's failure to pay.

"Because National has had financial troubles for more than two years, we haven't been seeing a lot of revenue from them," Grey said. "But we had hoped we would get some kind of a payment plan through National's bankruptcy reorganization."

"National's not a huge carrier. It's not as if Southwest or America West stopped flying. In the short term, we may see fewer travellers. Typically, if the (defunct) carrier's flight routes are popular, other airlines may add flights or start up routes to those locations," she said.

McCarran's largest carrier is Southwest with 170 daily flights, compared with National's 36 daily flights.

Meanwhile, McCarran set up a reception center with cookies and drinks Thursday at National's ticketing area with airport agents and representatives from other airlines to help frazzled National passengers. A few former National employees also volunteered to work at National's ticket counters.

Sandy Scott of Martinsburg, W. Va., a first-time visitor to Las Vegas, said she was playing poker at the Monte Carlo hotel-casino when she heard news of National's closure on Thursday and made a beeline for the airport to secure other flights even though she isn't scheduled to leave until Nov. 13.

Scott, who said she was concerned about paying higher fees, said she was a little heartened by Southwest and America West's notices issued at National's ticketing area saying they will honor National tickets on a standby basis with no added service charges.

Southwest, in its notice, said it "will be more than happy to waive the advance purchase restrictions on (its) lowest available fare if you prefer to travel on a confirmed basis."

America West also offered National passengers an option of buying a confirmed reservation at the available fare.

Even Aloha Airlines, which doesn't fly precisely the same routes as National and was therefore not obligated to honor National tickets, offered, as a goodwill gesture, to accept National passengers leaving for or returning from Burbank and Oakland on a space available basis. Aloha's move could help passengers booked on National flights to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

But the situation Thursday remained a "nightmare" for National passengers Boris Zmiyewsky of New Jersey and David Hills of Atlanta, who had been vacationing in Las Vegas.

Zmiyewsky, who was scheduled on a National flight on Sunday, said he was concerned about the prospects of getting standby tickets for his family because of heavy airline traffic for conventions in Las Vegas.

Hills, who said he was scheduled on a 11:10 a.m. flight Thursday, said he heard of National's closure Wednesday but didn't realize he was flying that airline until he checked in Thursday morning.

"It was a zoo when I got in (Thursday) morning. There must have been at least 100 people per line at the National ticket counter," he said. "I was supposed to fly National to Dallas and then American Airlines to Atlanta. I'm No. 35 on American's standby list of about 40 people for flights to Dallas."

Hills, who said he tried to get an alternative flight to Dallas on Delta, said he was told he may be able to get a 1:30 a.m. flight Thursday if he paid the full fare of $600 because Delta wouldn't honor National's ticket beyond midnight Thursday.

"I asked Delta if it's an FAA policy. But they said that's the policy they're going by," he said. Hills paid $280 for his National and American Airlines tickets.

Hills said he was able to get a standby ticket on America West for a 4:45 p.m. flight Thursday to Atlanta for $90, but only after he spent another $100 getting a paper ticket from American Airlines.

"America West wanted proof of my travel itinerary today. And I was supposed to get the ticket from Orbitz, where I bought my tickets from. But Orbitz didn't Fedex it to me in time," he said. "When you're stuck in an airport in a situation like this, you just have to whip out your credit card and pay."

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