Does anyone remember the original People Express Airlines which was launched back in 1981? They were headquartered at Newark’s airport and eventually integrated into Continental Airlines in 1987.

One thing that made this airline unique was that you would pay for your seats once on the plane during the beginning of the flight.

Starting June 30th, a new airline called PEOPLExpress plans to launch with service from Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. Tickets go on sale on June 4th.

Their initial three cities that they will serve will be Boston, Newark, N.J., and Pittsburgh. New destinations will be added in the coming months which include West Palm Beach, Fla. (July 15), Atlanta (Aug. 1), and St. Petersburg, Fla., and New Orleans (Aug. 28).

Their planes will operated by Vision Airlines Boeing 737-400 doing business as  PEOPLExpress and will bear the same logo as the old airline.

The Boeing 737-400 will have 138 coach seats and 12 Living Large seats. Fares start as low as $76 each way.

From their website, PEOPLExpress has developed a low-cost, a la carte service model that enables customers to create a customized travel product reflecting their individual wishes and budgets. Customers can choose to fly at an ultra-low price with friendly and attentive service but minimal frills or they can opt to purchase extras they want to make their trip more enjoyable, such as priority boarding, pre-assigned seating or an upgrade to a Living Large seat.

Bottom Line

We have seen a lot of start-up airlines fail never actually start up, so it will be interesting to see if this airline will actually launch and if it can make it.

It would of been cool if you could still somehow buy your tickets onboard, and just get a security document when you reserve in advance and then have the flight attendants charge you for the seats, but that aspect of this airline will not be returning.

Do you plan on trying out PeopleExpress once they launch?