Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
ADRIENNE P. SAMUELSUSA 3000 Airlines will provide the only direct flights from Cleveland to St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. It also will offer flights to Chicago-O'Hare and Newark, N.J.
Starting in October, another airline will bring Midwest and Northeast visitors to Tampa Bay.
Philadelphia-based USA 3000 Airlines will fly from Chicago-O'Hare, Cleveland and Newark, N.J., to the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.
The move opens Pinellas County to its only nonstop Cleveland flights - something expected to be a hit with tourists.
"We're excited about having a new destination to offer to our community," said Elaine Bispo Smalling, the airport's marketing chief. "It's Cleveland. It's a nonstop. It's affordable. I believe there's enough capacity and demand for these cities that we can all benefit from it."
Fliers might have the most to look forward to from USA 3000 Airline's unique fare rules and prices.
The low-fare airline features unique fare rules and prices starting at $79 and $89 each way. Service is twice weekly to cities in the airline's mostly new, 168-seat Airbus A320 jets.
Tickets can be bought now on the Internet or via phone at 1-877-USA3000.
The airline prides itself on easy fare rules. For example, USA 3000 doesn't require a Saturday night stay or round-trip tickets. The change flight fee, at $30, is less than those of other airlines. Name changes on a ticket cost $50.
At their most expensive, one-way fares likely will be no more than $159, said Trevor Sadler, director of contracts and services for USA 3000. The move could be profitable for both the airline and the airport. Smalling estimates annual revenues of about $240,000 for the airport. Local tourism experts think the airline will carry an average of 12,000 people a year to the area.
USA 3000 Airlines started up in late 2001. The airline, which works closely with tour agency Apple Vacations, initially flew charter flights to destinations such as Cancun, Mexico. Last year, it started service from Chicago-O'Hare, Cleveland and Baltimore to Fort Myers. The market led the airline to look into St. Petersburg as a destination, Sadler said.
Why Tampa Bay?
"We recognize the particular strengths of the total coastline area for which St. Petersburg is a natural gateway," Sadler said. "There really has been a bit of an economic shift. People still want to take a vacation, take a trip. Those who maybe went to Mexico are going to perhaps vacation at home."
Transportation analysts compare USA 3000 to low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines and American Trans Air, which fly directly from city to city, largely avoiding forcing travelers to transfer planes. Other airlines often direct all fliers into a hub, such as Chicago or Atlanta, for transfer to a smaller market.
This hits home for Sheila Cole, executive director of the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce. Cole has problems flying her grandchildren from Cleveland to Clearwater. They usually use Tampa International Airport; and even then, the children sometimes have to transfer planes or wait at a hub to get to Florida.
"This will be a real boon," Cole said.
USA 3000 chief executive Angus Kinnear is the former leader of the now-defunct Canada 3000 Airlines. Canada 3000 was Canada's second largest airline before it went out of business after Sept. 11, 2001.
The two companies are unrelated except for Kinnear's presence, Sadler said.
The airplanes will feature music, television and real food.
"We will feed you, and not just a bag of peanuts," Sadler said.
Headsets are free. The Web site, www.usa3000.com soon will be available in Spanish. Emerging artists can showcase their music for free on the airline's in-house music channel.
"We're trying not to be conventional," Sadler said. "We can bend and move."
That flexibility might keep USA 3000 in the air, said Steve Polzin, the director of public transit research for the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida.
"The public recognition of niche airlines and the relative success of Southwest Airlines when all the big ones are having trouble is giving the upstarts a little bit more credibility," Polzin said. "There's probably a fairly decent talent pool of folks that might be available, given the layoffs. It's probably as good a time as any to give something a try."
- Adrienne P. Samuels can be reached at 445-4157 or samuels@sptimes.com