PEOPLExpress Airlines (2nd) (Newport News/Williamsburg) as previously reported, announced on September 26 it was temporarily suspending service and was planning to re-launch on or about October 16. The airline also announced it still intended to launch previously announced service to Orlando and Charleston, West Virginia starting on October 16. This has now changed.

Today the company announced this update:

PEOPLExpress today (October 9) is providing an update on our plans to resume operations as part of our commitment to share as much information as possible as we work to restore much-needed air service.

We currently have a tentative agreement with an additional aircraft provider, which will enable us to enhance our platform, including the addition of a third aircraft as a spare. This will alleviate the service issues we have experienced.

A number of steps need to be achieved before we can resume service, among them some regulatory approvals.

In order to ensure that we always have enough planes and crews, we are obtaining approval to operate as an Indirect Aircraft Carrier (known as Part 380). This will allow us to obtain planes from a number of providers if necessary for service stability. We met with the U.S. Department of Transportation this week and we are in the process of providing them with information they requested.

Since we cannot open reservations until we receive government approvals we therefore cannot commit to our previously announced date to resume service.

All customers holding existing reservations will be receiving full refunds. As before, we offer our heartfelt apologies for the inconvenience to our loyal customers. Once we have established a date to resume service, customers with travel dates beginning with the resumption date and beyond will be contacted to offer them the option to rebook their flights for the same dates of travel at the same fare, if they choose.

While our resumption is later than we had anticipated and hoped for, with this approach we will be able to restore a full schedule with exceptional operational integrity, supported by an adequate number of aircraft and crew members.

We remain focused on getting back into the air as soon as possible and building the reliable service that our customers have asked for and deserve, with an unwavering focus on safety.

Photo: PEOPLExpress. The two Boeing 737-400s operated by Vision Airlines for PEOPLExpress are now likely to be operated on other services by Vision.