Elite Airways has canceled its planned route between Pittsburgh and Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, a day after Allegiant Air said it would offer similar service beginning in April.
Customers who had bought tickets were receiving cancellation emails on Wednesday. Elite’s year-round, twice-weekly flights were slated to begin in February.
“We regret to inform you Elite Airways is cancelling service between Sarasota and Pittsburgh,” the emails read. “Your credit card has been automatically refunded. We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience.”
Elite officials did not return calls requesting comment Thursday.
Elite announced plans for the route in a news conference in December. The service was slated to start just in time for spring training and was expected to be popular because Bradenton is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team's fans will have to wait until next year for a nonstop flight into Sarasota-Bradenton. Allegiant’s Pittsburgh routes won’t begin until after spring training is over.
Airport CEO Frederick “Rick” Piccolo confirmed on Thursday that the flights had been canceled. Elite officials said they couldn’t compete with Allegiant’s ultra-low-cost fares.
Ticket sales hadn’t been particularly strong and, while they were steadily picking up, Piccolo said, Elite CEO John Pearsall didn’t feel it would a profitable move for the company.
“He wanted to cut the damage as soon possible,” Piccolo said.
The boutique airline, which has one-way ticket prices that start at $199, operates a fleet of Bombardier CRJ-200 and CRJ-700 planes, which are 50- and 70-seat aircraft, respectively. The company is known for its customer service and no-hidden-fees model.
That’s a stark contrast to the Pittsburgh service Sarasota-Bradenton is getting now on Allegiant, which offers one-way ticket prices as low as $50 but is quick to charge additional fees. With the ultra-low-cost carrier, customers pay to bring anything larger than a personal item and even have to pay to print out their boarding passes.
Sarasota-Bradenton officials had been trying for years to lure Allegiant Air to the airport, but the deal always seemed out of reach because the carrier had a strong presence at nearby St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport and Punta Gorda Airport, Piccolo said at a press conference on Tuesday.
After years of pitches, however, Allegiant approached Piccolo’s team a few weeks ago ready to hash out a deal to bring twice-weekly service to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Indianapolis. That move gave the airport its first ultra-low-cost-carrier and bumped up its the number of nonstop destinations to 15.
Piccolo said Elite’s officials were congratulatory and understanding and he doesn’t expect the arrival of Allegiant to damage the airport’s overall relationship with the airline.
Ticket sales on Elite's two current routes to White Plains, New York, and Portland, Maine, have been strong, he said. Elite has been vocal about its intentions to bring additional routes to airport and he expects it will.
“We’ve formed a good working relationship and friendship,” Piccolo said.