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After One Year in Business, National Airlines Finds Cities Asking to be Included in Its System

Mike Conway, founder of National Airlines, is convinced that delivering on customer expectations is what has attracted repeat business.

"We've started to get bookings from people who have flown us before and that has really helped," he said.

Among the extras National has offered are free stopovers in Las Vegas for passengers making a cross-country trip, baggage delivery from the plane to the Rio or Harrah's properties, increased leg room in the main cabin and meals on flights.

Conway said it's gratifying to see his company ahead of rivals in customer service. He said American and United airlines had big promotions when they added leg room in their planes, a feature National had since its launch. Other companies also have jumped on National's practice of delivering luggage straight to the hotel from the plane.

Among the cities seeking out National are several Florida cities as well as Reno, which will lose flights when American Airlines scales back service. Conway said he doesn't expect National to deviate from its business plan of hub-and-spoke service to Las Vegas, but a group from Reno still plans to meet with him this week to lobby for help. Flights between Reno and Las Vegas don't appear likely in the immediate future because Conway already has a wish list of destinations he's working on and Reno isn't on it.

High on National's list of future destinations are Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, Detroit, San Diego and Houston's Intercontinental Airport. National last week received slot exemptions for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and will offer three daily flights there, probably by fall. The airline doesn't plan to abandon flights to Chicago Midway when it goes to O'Hare.

Also on Conway's radar screen is Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport, where National has applied for six of 12 slot exemptions offered to airlines that fly to destinations beyond 1,250 miles of Washington. Competition for the slots is fierce -- several airlines have requested a total 40 slots from the airport. Conway said it's a political battle that, in all likelihood, will result in the 12 slots dispersed among several carriers.

"They're important to everybody," Conway said, "because they're tantamount to the establishment of a legislative monopoly in several markets."

America West Airlines also has applied for Las Vegas-Washington slots, but Conway is hopeful that National will have the edge because legislation requires new carriers get preferential treatment over established companies.

A new airline that is emerging from the proposed merger of United Airlines and US Airways won't figure into the slot battle, even though it will be based at Reagan National Airport.

Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, will start up DC Air, the first domestic airline ever owned and operated by an African American. The new airline is being formed using resources from US Airways at Reagan National.

DC Air plans to offer flights to 44 cities. A spokesman for the company said the farthest west DC Air would fly is Denver, although that lies outside the 1,250-mile perimeter.

Although Conway has enjoyed the triumphs of National's first year of operations, there were disappointments.

He said the airline probably would have been profitable in January had it not been for the city's poor marketing of the Millennium celebration. Many people stayed home for New Year's Eve because of overpriced accommodations.

Conway said two weeks into 2000, National's bookings picked up.

Conway said there was early frustration with the delivery of aircraft. That led to some flight cancellations early in the company's history.

He also said there is room for improvement in on-time performance.

"All things considered, we're not bad," Conway said. "But an airline with 11 aircraft is at a disadvantage because if one flight is delayed by mechanical or weather problems, it affects 10 percent of our fleet and we have a higher percentage of late flights overall."

National has about 70 percent of its flights arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival times, Conway said.

Mike Boyd, the Evergreen, Colorado, airline analyst, said one other pitfall that could be problematic for National is if the nation's economy slumps.

"The challenges of a severe downturn in the economy tend to hit leisure and discretionary income spending hardest," Boyd said. "If that were to occur, National would be one of the first to feel it in Las Vegas."

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