No-frills Air Gumbo to be launched soon

Planes painted to look like a giant bowl of gumbo – crawfish included – could be taking to the south Louisiana skies by the end of year.

Local businessman Ralston Champagnie has announced plans to launch Air Gumbo, a medium-size airline with hub operations in New orleans and its headquarters in Lafayette. Air Gumbo's fleet would consist of seven Boeing 737s. The planes would be painted so the foward part of the aircraft is a pale blue and the back looks like a bowl of gumbo, including a giant red crawfish, onions, sausage and red peppers. The airline would be a lowfare, low-cost and no-frills service that would first serve Louisiana cities and Houston, then branch out to the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, Champagnie said. "I feel that we will be up and running by the end of the year," said Champagnie, a native of Jamaica who has lived in Lafayette for 20 years. The plans call for up to 1,000 employees by the year of operation, with most of the workers in New Orleans.

Source:
New York Times; Reuters; CP; AP