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Hooters Air launching Pittsburgh service
The two-year-old airline said Tuesday that it will launch nonstop service from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach, S.C., beginning Feb. 10, in time for the winter golf season.
"We are very excited to begin service to the greater Pittsburgh area and bring nonstop jet service to Myrtle Beach,'' said Hooters Air President Mark Peterson.
Round-trip fares are $198. The airline began accepting reservations yesterday at its Web site, www.hootersair.com, and at its toll-free number (888) FLY-HOOT (888-359-4668).
Based in Myrtle Beach, Hooters Air is the sixth low-cost carrier to set up operations at Pittsburgh International Airport.
Spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny said that Hooters Air is filling a niche that had been neglected by US Airways, the region's dominant carrier. US Airways, which eliminated hub operations at Pittsburgh International last month, provides only connecting service to Myrtle Beach, through Charlotte, N.C., Jenny said.
"Myrtle Beach is a popular destination for Pittsburghers,'' Jenny said, "so there is a definite demand for nonstop service.''
"Our service patterns today have been designed to serve the markets where the people of Pittsburgh fly most frequently,'' David Castelveter, a US Airways spokesman, said yesterday.
Hooters Air took off in March 2003 with service from Myrtle Beach to Atlanta. Pittsburgh becomes the airline's seventh market, joining Newark; Baltimore; Gary, Ind.; Columbus, Ohio; Nassau, Bahamas; and Rockford, Ill.
Hooters Air is an offshoot of Hooters of America Inc., the franchiser and operator of 380 casual-dining restaurants in 46 states, including two in Allegheny County (at Station Square and in Monroeville). Hooters restaurants are famous for chicken wings, sandwiches and attractive young waitresses wearing tight T-shirts.
Hooters Air attempts to transfer the restaurants' appeal to the skies by staffing every flight with Hooters Girls who greet travelers, play trivia games and smile a lot. Three flight attendants handle food and beverage service, the company said.
Hooters Air relies on Boeing 737 and Boeing 757 aircraft outfitted with blue leather seats and extra leg room.
Initially, Hooters Air will offer one nonstop flight from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach only four days a week, Jenny said. Service will expand to five days a week in March, but the airline has not decided yet on which days it will operate, she added.
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