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AIRLINES: American, Spirit airlines vie in international market

As it contends with the expansion of Miramar-based Spirit Airlines, American adds flights from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Competition on international routes is heating up between American Airlines and low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, which are both expanding flights at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

American, which bases its Latin American and Caribbean hub at Miami International Airport, said Monday that it will add nonstop, daily service from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood to San Jose, Costa Rica, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Dec. 13.

The airline said it also will upgrade to larger aircraft on some of its flights between Fort Lauderdale and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and its daily flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

For years, Spirit has been ramping up its international expansion at Fort Lauderdale and now serves 18 cities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In fact in May, Spirit surpassed Delta Air Lines for the first time, logging more passengers at the airport than any other carrier. American, which has been cutting back at the airport in recent years, ranked seventh.

Spirit carried 282,234 passengers in May, or 15.2 percent of the airport's traffic. That was up 69.1 percent from May 2006. American had 7.2 percent of the market in May.

American spokeswoman Martha Pantín downplayed the idea that competition with Spirit led the airline to launch new flights at Fort Lauderdale.

''This is, for us, to better serve our customers in South Florida, because we are always looking for opportunities in the marketplace,'' she said.

American had served Santo Domingo out of Fort Lauderdale from 2003 to 2005 and is now restarting the service, she said. The airline also has flown to Port-au-Prince since November 2003. Its flight will be upgraded to an Airbus A300 from the current Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

READY TO COMPETE

''They've flown Fort Lauderdale before, and we love competition,'' said Spirit Chief Executive Ben Baldanza, adding that the Miramar-based carrier's costs are substantially below American's.

American's and Spirit's customers are very different, Baldanza said. Spirit's are ''price-driven,'' while American's seek ''service features.'' Spirit now charges customers for checked baggage, beverages and snacks.

''We're Wal-Mart, and they're Nordstrom's,'' Baldanza said.

ADDED RUNS

Year-to-date, Spirit has added service to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; St. Maarten, San Jose; Guatemala City; and Lima, Peru. The airline will launch flights to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in July; and Managua, Nicaragua, in August. Later this year, it will add Caracas, and is awaiting government approval for service to Bogotá and Baranquilla, Colombia, Baldanza said.

Air Jamaica is also adding nonstop flights from Fort Lauderdale to Barbados, July 22.

PILOT NEGOTIATIONS

Meanwhile, Spirit's pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, say the carrier has forced them to fly long international hours without commensurate pay. Pilots are in the midst of negotiating a new contract with the airline.

American's new flights from Fort Lauderdale to San Jose and Santo Domingo will be operated with 148-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

It will replace one of its three daily round trips to San Juan with a 267-seat Airbus A300. The other two daily round trips between Fort Lauderdale and San Juan will continue to be operated with 188-seat Boeing 757 planes.

American's regional partner American Eagle also flies three flights daily from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau.

Aviation consultant Bob Booth, chairman of Miami-based AvGroup, said the market warrants the expansion.

''Tourism is booming,'' he said, ``and there is a need for more service, and they are doing what they have to do.''