Running an airline is difficult, with many companies folding or merging to survive. Being an airline passenger isn't a walk in the park, for a number of reasons that anyone who has ever been in an airport can easily enumerate.
Landline thinks it has found a way to create a better experience for both airlines and their passengers. The big idea? The check-in process can be distributed by processing people in smaller hubs closer to their homes.
If all goes according to plan, customers will be dropped off just a hop, skip and a jump from the plane they are about to board.
Landline, founded by David Sunde, is a bus service that transports people from regional hubs to major airports. After four years with Surf Air, Sunde saw some of the challenges of regional airline carriers, from their expensive operations to pilot shortages.
Landline does more than just punch tickets. Landline has partnerships with American Airlines, United Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines, whose passengers inadvertently book travel with the white-labeled service. Travelers are hopping onto an American Airlines bus, if that is the provider, and that ride to the airport from the hub nearer their home is simply.
Landline is able to check in both passengers and their luggage at the airport because of the partnerships.
The last step is important. The long security lines are the worst part of the experience for most passengers. Landline is also working on this. Sunde believes that Landline will become the first ground transportation company in the country to receive the blessing of the Transportation Security Administration, and that he expects its approval to come.
When it happens, it will be an industry first, because there is a pre-existing regulatory approval for regional airlines. I'm optimistic about it. We have successfully stepped into more complicated things.
The startup that aims to bring passengers to a nearby gate is getting some help from an investor that has a reputation for being an expert at the intersection of tech and policy. The founder of the firm was an early advisor to the company.
Landline just led a $28 million round in the company that closed this week and brings its total funding to $38 million.
The company is trying to build infrastructure that will put it on solid footing for the future. While it has its own ground transportation certificate, it also has the insurance requirements and the safety and security team that would be required of a regional airline.
It can put the pedal to the metal now that it has raised capital. It operates in nine cities across Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Colorado and will be adding to them as quickly as possible.
Some of the $28 million will be used to add a quarter of the team to work in operations. Many of the drivers are considered full-time employees of the company. Landline is currently piloting a door-to-door product where travelers needn't drive to a nearby hub but could be picked up at home.
It's not a sexy business, but it could be an overlooked opportunity considering the state of airports right now, as well as customer frustration with most airlines.
Sunde says that the future of the motorcoach business is that the airport no longer needs to be next to the runway. We can distribute the check-in and load it away from places where it is hard to improve infrastructure.
I see that in our future, he says.
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