Cha, Cha, Changes

[BoeingBoy]

US Airways planning more changes

Larger / Smaller Text

By Thomas Olson
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, May 19, 2004

US Airways announced Tuesday that only about 25 percent of its flights will carry passengers to connecting service in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Charlotte beginning in the fall.

Article

Jim

 

[Light Years]

Turn, and face the strain, ch-ch-changes

Time may change me

but I cant trace time....

:wub: Great song.

 

[robbedagain]

it sound good that they are going to do this but why dopes it have to come at the expense of the employees once again? what about mgmt giving up a large and i do mean a heck of a large chunk of their pay? it just sounds like they want more money for their past and most likely future mistakes

 

[RowUnderDCA]

Wow, that's pretty revolutionary. Wouldn't this be a 'new' plan?

 

[mweiss]

Very interesting. Well, there should be plenty of nonstop business to be had in US's territory. Dropping PIT as a hub should make that job easier, too. Don't know if this will work, but it sure beats business as usual.

 

[funguy2]

US Airways is modeling its route network on that of America West Airlines, Stephan said. The Phoenix-based airline operates most of its 566 daily flights point-to-point, but it also connects passengers through Phoenix and Las Vegas.

I think this is an interesting statement because, in respect to America West, it is completely wrong. AWA operates a fairly large hub at PHX, a smaller one at LAS, and has a handful of point-to-point routes (all introduced in the last several months). Also, AWA was, even before its transcon point-to-point service, #3 in terms of passengers carried from the NE to California, which suggests a relatively high mix of connecting passengers, like US Airways today. And of course, as the rest of the article suggests, US Airways will be "dehubbing", something AWA has made very little effort to do... Like any other LCC, they have just begun cherry-picking high-fare routes...

At any rate, it should be interesting to see what unfolds... I am glad that US Airways is finally doing SOMETHING other than the same old thing... Now the question is: Will it be enough? Or too little too late?

 

[BoeingBoy]

funguy,

Glad I wasn't the only one to notice the error. A look at AWA's routemap (they have a neat interactive one on their site) shows very few flights that don't begin/end at either LAS or PHX.

On another note, if only 25% of the [mainline] flights are in/out of the hubs there's going to be a lot of expensive gates not needed but still under lease.

And last, a question. Does anybody have a feel for what % of mainline flights the European, Caribbean/Latin America, and those to west of the Rockies are?

Jim

 

[networking]

The key here is MAINLINE flying will only be 25% through hubs. This is the whole concept of the contract carriers filling in for the smaller cities. This is the way I read this whole thing...correct me if I am wrong. The big questions is the Savannah's and the Wilmington's that have not gone mainline express...when and if they will finally succumb.

 

[BoeingBoy]

networking,

I assume the same as you - Express will be filling in for a lot of the hub connecting flights. The problem with that is that the most efficient express type operators have a CASM of over 12 cents.

Jim

 

[networking]

Yes, but does this CASM cost affect the U stock price and their bottom line upon quarter results? I get the feeling they are trying to farm as much out as possible...cause after all "They're not U employees or companies".

 

[PoorPropDriver]

IMHO you could make the argument that recapturing more Express business within Group could help lower costs. The W/O's do not have to be paid an 8% premium after expenses like Mesa, TSA and CHQ etc..

 

[BoeingBoy]

networking,

PoorPropDriver basically answered your question. The cost of Express is ultimately borne by US. After all, Mesa, etc., aren't doing it for charity - they're doing it because they're guaranteed a profit. With the "fee for departure" contracts, US assumes all the risk of selling the seats, higher fuel costs, etc. in exchange for getting the revenue generated.

Jim

 

[ktflyhome]

Anyone have any further insight or feelings as to how his is going to effect the employees at these Hubs and/or Bases?? Seriously, if they are only going to be conncecting 25% out of Pit, Phl and Clt, what is this going to do and how is this going to work??? Thanks, kt

 

[AlabubbaRegional]

Talking about changes ... is this true about Crystal City?Stores: Behind Closed Doors

 

[BoeingBoy]

kt,

As usual, there are more questions than answers. I assume (big risk there) that there will be more flights into the hub cities, especially PHL/CLT, but they will not be "connecting" flights in the sense that they aren't a part of the connecting banks.

But when you really get down to it, your guess is as good, or better, than mine.

Off on a 4-day, chat with ya'll later.

Jim