A company that made its reputation on the ground takes to the skies May 15 as Greyhound Air begins offering low-cost flights as part of an ‘intermodal’ strategy to win back former customers and entice new ones.
John Munro, executive vice-president of Greyhound Lines of Canada, says by intermodal he means a system that allows travellers to change their choice of transport at will.
Munro predicts the intermodal strategy will help win back some of the long-haul passengers Greyhound’s bus service lost to the airlines six or seven years ago as well as some of the medium-haul traffic lost to planes three or four years ago.
Greyhound Lines can’t afford to lose any more passengers, says Munro, who notes the bus line still carries five million passengers a year.
Travellers by car will also be a Greyhound Air target, he adds.
Unlike some of the budget airlines that have flowered and died over the years – People’s Express, Laker Airways – Munro says he’s convinced Greyhound Lines has the necessary infrastructure in place to keep costs low and to make a profit.
For example, he says Greyhound buses serve 1,100 communities in Canada – all potential feeder points for Greyhound Air – and has 658 ticketing agencies already in operation.
Munro is circumspect when it comes to other elements of Greyhound’s marketing, advertising plans, fares and schedules.
Still, he does allow the Greyhound Air ad campaign from Palmer Jarvis in Vancouver will be a multi-million dollar mixed media effort reaching from the b.c. metropolis to Ottawa, the new airline’s most easterly point currently.
Among Greyhound Air’s destinations are Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, where 67-year-old Greyhound Lines has its corporate headquarters. The fledgling carrier will also fly into Toronto and Hamilton, Ont.
Greyhound Air won’t own the planes it operates, says Munro. Instead, the aircraft will be supplied by Kelowna Flightcraft. A stylized version of the familiar greyhound found on the firm’s buses will appear on the tail of the carrier’s planes.
Greyhound Lines is the largest bus carrier in Canada. It has no connection with Greyhound in the u.s.
