Primaris cancels B787s

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[ FYI: The airline isn't made up: IATA: FE, ICAO: WCP.
Website at http://www.primarisairlines.com. Pictures
of their plane are at airliners.net. -Ed. ]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine..._boeing06.html

Boeing customer cancels order for 787s

Thursday, July 6, 2006

By JAMES WALLACE
P-I AEROSPACE REPORTER

It was one of those airplane orders that Boeing and Airbus sometimes
receive that look a little shaky from the start.

But they look good on paper.

In October 2004, an upstart U.S. airline based in Las Vegas and calling
itself Primaris announced its intentions to order 20 of The Boeing
Co.'s new 7E7 jetliners -- the name of the plane at the time.

Primaris, the first U.S. airline to commit to the plane, wanted a fleet
configured for only business class.

But the order never became firm, and Primaris has never taken off as an
airline, although it does operate one commercial jetliner. Wednesday,
Boeing confirmed that it had reached an agreement with the backers of
Primaris to cancel its commitment for what is now the 787.

Yvonne Leach, a spokeswoman for the 787 program, said the company and
Primaris agreed that "it was the right time" to cancel the order.
Boeing has 360 firm orders for the 787 Dreamliner plus an additional 43
commitments, without Primaris.

Mark Morris, president and founder of Primaris, said Wednesday in a
telephone interview that he still loves the 787 and hopes to eventually
get the plane into his fleet by leasing them.

"We felt it was just best to start from scratch," he said.

At the time Primaris announced that it would order the 787s, it also
said it would order 20 737-800s. That commitment has also been
canceled, Morris said. It also had options -- now canceled -- to buy 40
more Boeing planes.

He said the airline is "getting close" to raising the investment money
it needs to go forward with a large fleet of leased airplanes.

"We need to get the final dollars in the bank and then go back to the
negotiating table," he said.

Primaris paid Boeing a deposit to hold delivery positions starting in
2010 for the 787s. Primaris would have had to pay Boeing additional
money to keep those delivery positions at a time when it needs cash,
Morris said.

The airline will get back its deposit. Boeing, in turn, will now have
those early delivery positions to help it sell more 787s. It could also
give those Primaris spots to an existing customer.

The 787 is hot property these days, and airlines that want to order the
plane can't get one until around 2011, even though the 787 is scheduled
to enter service in May 2008. Boeing is looking at boosting production
to get more planes to customers sooner.

Singapore Airlines recently announced its intentions to order 20 787s,
but those planes would not be delivered until 2011 and later, even
though the airline might want them sooner. Singapore Airlines is one of
Boeing's most important customers.

Morris, former boss of DHL Air Group, said previously that the airline
had hoped to start with $200 million in capital, about 40 percent of
that from equity investors.

At one time, Primaris Airlines' only plane, a leased 757, was used to
ferry the White House media corps. That jet now carries passengers
between Miami and South America.

Primaris wants to become the Southwest Airlines for business travelers.
The little-known airline was founded by a group of longtime
airline-industry executives and politicians. It has an ambitious
business plan to offer an all-business-class service between New York
and other major cities.

Primaris already has obtained certification from both the
Transportation Department and the Federal Aviation Administration.

"The funding is not yet in place," Morris acknowledged Wednesday. "But
we hope to make an announcement soon."

BL.
- --
Brad Littlejohn | Email:
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Web + NewsMaster, BOFH.. Smeghead! | http://www.wizard.com/~tyketto
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A Guy Called Tyketto wrote:
But the order never became firm, and Primaris has never taken off as an
airline, although it does operate one commercial jetliner. Wednesday,
Boeing confirmed that it had reached an agreement with the backers of
Primaris to cancel its commitment for what is now the 787.


What is more likely to have happened is that Primaris was a pawn that
placed its order as a marketing thing for Boeing, with fill intentions
of later selling the delivery positions once the aircraft really took
off. I wouldn't be susprised to see Primaris making a profit on this.

Since the 787 order book is so full, the A350 V3.0 wouldn't be that far
off in terms of deliveries compared to the 787. Freeing up delivery
slots allows Boeing to start delivering 787s earlier to potential
customers and that would be a huge advantage over the 350.