JetAmerica: FAA changed on the rules on us

July 2nd, 2009 at 08:36pm Thomas V. Bona

According to Today in the Sky, JetAmerica is saying it has to delay its launch by a month because the Federal Aviation Administration reneged on its original assurance that the airline didn’t need to obtain slots to operate at Newark. According to Brian Burling, the airline’s VP of operations:

“However, at about the same time JetAmerica started making national news with its $9 non-stop fares; when JetAmerica announced 60,000 website visitors; and sales in excess of 20,000 the FAA re-clarified its policy telling JetAmerica we would need to obtain slots.”

It seems weird that the FAA would care about whether an airline had strong early sales. Maybe this was a case of miscommunication … it’ll be interesting to see what response, if any, the FAA has.

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