New air carrier begins service from Las Vegas to Florida

Tuesday, July 22, 2003 | 10:42 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - A new airline has made its maiden flights between McCarran International Airport and Orlando, Fla.

Song Airways, a low-fare subsidiary of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., carried 150 passengers on a 199-passenger twin-engine Boeing 757 from Orlando to Las Vegas, and 120 late Monday on the turnaround flight to Orlando.

Song launched operations April 15, offering low-fare service from New York to Florida - a niche in which New York-based rival JetBlue Airways has had success.

"Song was funded by optimists and built by believers," Song President John Selvaggio said Monday in Las Vegas.

The airline chief said that by October, the carrier will have a fleet of 36 Boeing 757 jets with coach seating, seat-back entertainment systems with satellite television and digital audio programming and pay-per-view video. Food will be sold on flights.

Delta's 360 Las Vegas employees will also serve the new carrier. Randy Hagblom, station manager for Delta at McCarran, said Delta does not plan to reduce Las Vegas flights.

Song plans to add service from McCarran to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in August, and to Boston and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in October.

The airline also serves Newark, N.J., Hartford, Conn., Atlanta, Washington's Dulles International Airport and Tampa, Fla.

Information from: Las Vegas Sun