The United States may soon welcome a new low-cost airline led by a former senior United Airlines executive.
Xtra Airways, headed by CEO Andrew Levy — who previously served as United’s chief financial officer and co-founded Allegiant Air — aims to begin passenger service as early as late 2019.
Levy believes there is room for more affordable seats in the U.S. market. The carrier plans to offer low fares while emphasizing strong customer service, operate from secondary airports, and serve underserved city pairs. Initially the airline expects to put five aircraft into service in its first year and expand the fleet to around 45 airplanes by 2023.
“Doing the same thing as everyone else, but trying to do it better, hasn’t worked, historically, very well in the airline industry,” Levy said. “So that’s certainly not what we’re trying to do, is out-Spirit Spirit or out-Allegiant Allegiant or anybody else like that. We aim to do something that’s different.”
If Xtra Airways meets its proposed timeline, it would start operations roughly a year earlier than another planned low-cost carrier, Moxy.