Midnight Mike
20th Sep 2002, 19:46
http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2002/09/16/daily45.html
Hooter Airline?!?!
13:12 EDT Friday
Hooters chairman will start new airline in KC
Brian Cookson Staff Writer
Hooters of America Inc. Chairman Robert Brooks plans to start a new airline in Kansas City from the ashes of bankrupt Vanguard Airlines Inc., a spokesman for Brooks said Friday.
"This is a distinctly new company and new operation," said Mike McNeil, a vice president of marketing for Atlanta-based Hooters of America and a spokesman for Brooks.
The first step in launching a new airline is to buy Vanguard's assets, McNeil said. Brooks' offer will be made Friday to Vanguard's board through Hooters Air LLC, a company set up for investment in the airline. Brooks leads the investment team.
Brooks has spent about $500,000 since mid-August to retain key Vanguard employees and develop a business plan for restarting the airline.
Court approval for Brooks' financing expires Friday. McNeil said Brooks will not seek to continue that financing because a business plan already has been developed.
McNeil would not discuss the details of the plan, including how many cities the new airline would serve from Kansas City. Before suspending service, Vanguard served 17 cities from its Kansas City hub.
Vanguard spokeswoman Elizabeth Cattell previously told The Business Journal that if the airline restarted, it probably would not serve as many destinations.
Buying Vanguard's assets represents a small portion of the overall investment needed to restart the airline, McNeil said. Vanguard, which leased its planes and office space, didn't own much. Terms of the overall financial commitment Brooks will make have not been disclosed.
Restoring Vanguard as a scheduled-service carrier would cost $10 million to $50 million, Joel Denney, an airline analyst at Piper Jaffray Inc. in Minneapolis, told The Business Journal last month.
Tony Tocco, a Rockhurst University business professor, last month put the price at $25 million to $30 million. But he said that investors should be willing and able to put an additional $70 million to $75 million into the airline to make it profitable.
Vanguard filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and suspended service July 30. Since then, it has been searching for an investor to relaunch the airline.
Hooters Air's offer is for Vanguard's spare airline parts, ground equipment, furniture and fixtures, and intellectual property, including Vanguard's name.
McNeil declined to say the value of the offer, but court documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri state that Vanguard has sought approval to sell about $4.5 million in assets.
Bankruptcy Judge Jerry Venters will have to approve Hooters Air's offer. Venters also would have to weigh other offers made by prospective buyers, though none has been announced.
Hooters Air wants the rights to Vanguard's name, but indications are Hooters Air won't use the Vanguard name.
"I would anticipate that would not be the case," McNeil said.
McNeil said a decision has not been made to name the new airline after Hooters of America or use the restaurant chain's orange color scheme.
But news reports, as well as Brooks, already have started calling the new entity Hooters Air.
In a written statement Friday, Brooks said the group will buy assets and hopes to use many former Vanguard personnel "in building a new Hooters Airlines in Kansas City."
McNeil said it hasn't been determined how many former Vanguard employees will find jobs at the new airline. Vanguard laid off more than 1,000 employees when it suspended service.
Brooks said that a new board will be formed but that a decision has not been made on retaining Vanguard's executives, including company Chairman Scott Dickson.
Brooks said he will need airline expertise from new employees or consultants.
"I now believe I will require support from other sources to build the kind of airline I desire," Brooks said in a written statement.
McNeil said Brooks will not need financial help to get the new airline running.
Joe McBride, a spokesman for the Kansas City Aviation Department, said Hooters Air's plans will affect Kansas City International Airport's layout.
Vanguard used six gates at KCI before it stopped flying and would have leased nine, with an option for two more, when the airport's terminal renovations are completed.
"We'd like to know ASAP," McBride said of Brooks' plans.
REACH BRIAN COOKSON at 816-421-5900 or by e-mail at [email protected].
© 2002 American City Business Journals Inc.
Hooters Airlines
Midnight MIKE
Hooter Airline?!?!
13:12 EDT Friday
Hooters chairman will start new airline in KC
Brian Cookson Staff Writer
Hooters of America Inc. Chairman Robert Brooks plans to start a new airline in Kansas City from the ashes of bankrupt Vanguard Airlines Inc., a spokesman for Brooks said Friday.
"This is a distinctly new company and new operation," said Mike McNeil, a vice president of marketing for Atlanta-based Hooters of America and a spokesman for Brooks.
The first step in launching a new airline is to buy Vanguard's assets, McNeil said. Brooks' offer will be made Friday to Vanguard's board through Hooters Air LLC, a company set up for investment in the airline. Brooks leads the investment team.
Brooks has spent about $500,000 since mid-August to retain key Vanguard employees and develop a business plan for restarting the airline.
Court approval for Brooks' financing expires Friday. McNeil said Brooks will not seek to continue that financing because a business plan already has been developed.
McNeil would not discuss the details of the plan, including how many cities the new airline would serve from Kansas City. Before suspending service, Vanguard served 17 cities from its Kansas City hub.
Vanguard spokeswoman Elizabeth Cattell previously told The Business Journal that if the airline restarted, it probably would not serve as many destinations.
Buying Vanguard's assets represents a small portion of the overall investment needed to restart the airline, McNeil said. Vanguard, which leased its planes and office space, didn't own much. Terms of the overall financial commitment Brooks will make have not been disclosed.
Restoring Vanguard as a scheduled-service carrier would cost $10 million to $50 million, Joel Denney, an airline analyst at Piper Jaffray Inc. in Minneapolis, told The Business Journal last month.
Tony Tocco, a Rockhurst University business professor, last month put the price at $25 million to $30 million. But he said that investors should be willing and able to put an additional $70 million to $75 million into the airline to make it profitable.
Vanguard filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and suspended service July 30. Since then, it has been searching for an investor to relaunch the airline.
Hooters Air's offer is for Vanguard's spare airline parts, ground equipment, furniture and fixtures, and intellectual property, including Vanguard's name.
McNeil declined to say the value of the offer, but court documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri state that Vanguard has sought approval to sell about $4.5 million in assets.
Bankruptcy Judge Jerry Venters will have to approve Hooters Air's offer. Venters also would have to weigh other offers made by prospective buyers, though none has been announced.
Hooters Air wants the rights to Vanguard's name, but indications are Hooters Air won't use the Vanguard name.
"I would anticipate that would not be the case," McNeil said.
McNeil said a decision has not been made to name the new airline after Hooters of America or use the restaurant chain's orange color scheme.
But news reports, as well as Brooks, already have started calling the new entity Hooters Air.
In a written statement Friday, Brooks said the group will buy assets and hopes to use many former Vanguard personnel "in building a new Hooters Airlines in Kansas City."
McNeil said it hasn't been determined how many former Vanguard employees will find jobs at the new airline. Vanguard laid off more than 1,000 employees when it suspended service.
Brooks said that a new board will be formed but that a decision has not been made on retaining Vanguard's executives, including company Chairman Scott Dickson.
Brooks said he will need airline expertise from new employees or consultants.
"I now believe I will require support from other sources to build the kind of airline I desire," Brooks said in a written statement.
McNeil said Brooks will not need financial help to get the new airline running.
Joe McBride, a spokesman for the Kansas City Aviation Department, said Hooters Air's plans will affect Kansas City International Airport's layout.
Vanguard used six gates at KCI before it stopped flying and would have leased nine, with an option for two more, when the airport's terminal renovations are completed.
"We'd like to know ASAP," McBride said of Brooks' plans.
REACH BRIAN COOKSON at 816-421-5900 or by e-mail at [email protected].
© 2002 American City Business Journals Inc.
Hooters Airlines
Midnight MIKE