Elite's service in Naples, FL may be ending. Elite started twice a week service to Newark in February '16, then cancelled it in June, citing poor load factors. (They did get a late start on the 2016 tourist season, with delays in getting TSA up and running for the first time in Naples.) This has put them in technical breach of their agreement with Naples Municipal Airport which requires service to a(n un-defined) 'major hub.' The airport provides $50,000 in marketing, and about $24,000 in free rent for terminal space.

Elite is still connecting at Melbourne for service to Portland, ME and Islip, Long Island. Perhaps Elite considers Melbourne a major hub - it's an out-station for American (from Charlotte) and Delta (from Atlanta).

Competition is a factor in Naples. Southwest Regional International Airport (SWF) is 30 miles north in Fort Myers, with United, Delta and Jet Blue serving the New York City airports with mainline equipment. Elite tried reducing fares, but lost money without significant load gain and you can't make that up with volume.

There is talk about mid-west service, city not specified.

But with load factors through December of 21%, the future isn't bright. Elite's CEO John Pearsall is due to meet with Naples officials later in January.

Not over yet, but the fat lady looks like she may be warming up.

It seems Elite is constantly changing their minds wich leads to a lot of confusion. The model will scare people away as it's risky buying tickets on Elite or a Via Air. The aircraft choice is odd as well as people then think they're flying on a regional with no connections and to odd cities.

I went to the Islip site and could not find any Elite flights. Not sure if they are daily or not?

Elite's scheduled service business model is primarily designed for leisure travelers, not business people. As such, they only fly routes on certain days, figuring that vacationers will follow them, not expect the reverse. If those fill up consistently, they'll eventually expand by adding other days.

Islip - Florida service operates on Mondays and Fridays, into/out of gate B-17. Their ticket counter is at the right hand end of the ticket counters, beside Southwest.

Islip - Newport News service starts March 13th, M-W-F.

Elite is first a charter operator, as is Via and a few others. Their scheduled service keeps the planes & flight crews flying more hours, and will build & be profitable or they'll drop it. They buy used aircraft, but right from a D-check major rebuild. Their 700s came from Lufthansa CityLine, I believe their smaller Bombardiers came from Iberia Regional. Via's jets came from Trans States, are older and seem to show their age. The aircraft size is matched to the their charter needs, scheduled needs, and checkbook size. It's a niche.

I wouldn't buy tickets any other way than a credit card. If they stop that service, your money is safe.

All good point. Thanks.

Why are you on every airlines topic constantly stirring the pot? Do you have any real interest in any of these airlines?

Yes, lots of interest(s).

Elite, and the other Charters dipping their toes into the scheduled world, are a very interesting phenomenon.

Elite in particular, along with other reasons, geographically brackets my Florida retirement home. Haven't needed to fly them yet, but will gladly when need arises. Friends who have, report a good experience.

More ISP so good news it looks like. I guess I am wrong about Elite, my bad.

Elite is deferring the start of their Newport News VA service. The nonstop jet service to New York City/Newark (EWR) and Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) was scheduled to begin on March 13th.

The announcement says "...due to the challenging perceptions surrounding the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport." The local paper says, "Elite did so because it was concerned about perceptions of the airport in the wake of Daily Press reports that a(n airport) commission loan guarantee to another airline two and a half years ago had prompted state Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne to yank the airport's state funds." Sounds like a political move. Newport News is served by Delta and American RJs.

In other news, Elite has announced that their seasonal service to Bar Harbor, Maine, won't resume this year. Insufficient traffic. Bar Harbor is served by Cape Air, and (seasonally) by PenAir.

Further research shows that the Newport News airport board had used state funds appropriated to them to repay a $3.5M loan it had made to the 2014 start-up PeopleExpress (II). That start-up flew for less than 3 months before collapsing in bankruptcy. Differing interpretations of the laws governing airport appropriations in Virginia, and open-meeting & open-records statutes are at the root of the disagreements. It's now a political football.

Elite is choosing not to be in the middle of the muddle.