Global Traveler: Eos is named for the Greek goddess of the dawn. How did you come up with the name and how does it represent the airline?
David Spurlock: As a single-class, premium-service carrier operating between London and New York, Eos is truly initiating a new era in the field of aviation. Our vision is to provide discerning travelers their own space to perform and revive. We wanted the brand to exude the following characteristics: sophistication, international, premium, innovative and balanced. We believe Eos has the potential to stand out, similar to a Nike or Starbucks brand. Eos will define the reinvention and new era that our airline will achieve for employees, customers and the industry itself.

GT: You and most of your executive staff are veterans of the airline industry. How did your past experience lead you to launch Eos?
DS: We developed the concept over the course of a few years after sensing what was missing from today’s hub-and-spoke structure. Eos will provide a point-to-point, high-value product, giving special attention to today’s business traveler who is willing to pay for and benefit from the service and experience. We have a proven and experienced management team in place to help drive Eos toward launch, aiming to give business travelers the kind of high-end service and comfort previously offered on the retired Concorde aircraft. Our team has experience across all aspects of airline marketing, from operations, to finance, to people, to marketing and sales. At the same time, we all share the vision that Eos brings to the marketplace.

GT: Describe the Eos service philosophy and travel experience. Why is now the time to launch such a cutting-edge product?
DS: Eos’ philosophy is to understand our customers — the business traveler — better than any other carrier or provider, and to provide them with the best flight experience at a reasonable price. There are inherent inefficiencies with trying to simultaneously cater to a first-class passenger in the front of the plane and a coach-class customer in the back. Eos has been designed with a clear focus on today’s business traveler. Our single, premium-class service will give our customers 21 square feet of personal space — more than any other airline. We will also offer the greatest seat pitch available in the air, at 87 inches; lie-flat beds; and a state-of-the-art entertainment system. Each of our Boeing 757s will be highly customized and reconfigured to seat only 48 passengers. As traditional carriers have responded to today’s conditions by cutting back on service, we believe that the market will respond favorably to an efficient new entrant that delivers a premium product.

GT: Who is your target market? Business travelers? Leisure travelers? How will ticket prices compare with business- and first-class ticket prices on established carriers? Why are you confident that corporate travel budgets will support your product?
DS: Our customer is today’s business traveler who demands comfort, space to work and relax, and attentive service. Eos has been built with the business traveler at the center of our model. In addition, our management team has deep experience in addressing this particular marketplace and is already engaged with our target market, so that travel agents and corporate travel managers see in Eos a partner that will meet and exceed the needs of their clients. From a service perspective, what we’re offering is akin to first class. From a price perspective, it will be 20 to 25 percent less than typical business-class fares. These tickets are averaging around $8,000 round-trip. We are confident that corporate travelers will demand the Eos product and service, given the outstanding combination of service and value.

GT: Your inaugural route is New York (JFK) to London (STN). Any plans to expand your network in the near future? If so, where and when?
DS: We’re going where the customer goes. The New York–to–London route is among the world’s busiest, with roughly 10 million travelers a year. We will fly out of Terminal 4 at New York’s JFK Airport and out of London Stansted Airport’s passenger terminal, which is situated roughly 15 minutes from the heart of London. We’re focused on making the New York–to–London route and experience successful, and will examine other routes and destinations in a timely manner. Ultimately, we’ll go where our customer wants us to go.