Sun Country Airlines, which began its career ferrying freezing-in-the-winter North Country folk to warm winter beaches has diversified its operations a bit, and now wants to go public to raise funds to expand further.
The airline, based in Minneapolis, and with the vast majority of its flights operating from there, says it’s developed a market strategy of focusing on ‘visiting friends and relatives,” which gives it a more year-round business. It also operates a fleet of a dozen freighters under contract to Amazon and has a sizable charter business, including for the military. Combined, it means that Sun Country is one of two airlines with operating profits this year, along with Allegiant.
An IPO prospectus has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, with an expectation of raising $100 million to build further. The prospectus points out that one of the airline’s strengths is its flexibility as it shifts seasonal routes to where the demand is; 38% of its seat-miles are flown on its 100 heaviest days of the year and only 15% on the lightest 100. Only three percent of its routes are year-round.
While that has been a successful strategy under the present management, in the past it has caused problems, including stranding several planeloads of passengers in Mexico in 2018 when weather delayed flights, and the planes had already been switched to other routes.
