Future of (Stand-alone) US Airways

[IberiaMAL]

US Airways expands the hell out of Charlotte, what next can we expect after that assuming there are no mergers?



Start building up Philadelphia into a very large hub would make logical sense to me and establish LGA as a strong performing focus city.


Maybe if Philadelphia gets capable facilities of housing more US wide-body aircraft, US might make PHL a strong trans-pacific hub? And that's assuming US get's more wide-body jets



Could there be any new Focus Cities/Hubs in the future? New Orleans, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Dallas? ( I don't say Dallas because of American. I say Dallas because I recall Delta having a hub there and I assume they have plenty of gate space and Dallas is a very large city. Could Dallas support American, WN, and a US hub of say 200 flights?)



Any future for PHX other than the status quo? WN is the 800 pound gorilla there and I can't see US being capable of doing much there anymore. Maybe people familiar with Phoenix can tell me what long-haul and what express flying can be added that wont get pounded by WN?




(To those familiar, why did US Airways drop Kansas City as a hub? To stop bleeding? To shrink it's size? Would it work today's US Airways?)

 

[USFlyer]

US has dropped A LOT of hubs/focus cities over the years. PIT, BWI, LAX, LAS, SYR, DAY, MCI, ROA, LGA, BOS, MCO ... Someone more knowledgeable than me would be able to provide a full and complete list. (Might want to include CMH, a former HP hub.)

Also, remember US is trying to sell LGA to DL.

I predict no expansion anywhere but the three hubs (PHL, CLT, PHX) and DCA. US will continue to streamline the fleet by retiring the 737s. US will resume building its European presence with small increases in South America. My hope is US stays in Star, but I would not be surprised to see a jump to Oneworld. And, US will continue to focus on running a solid operation but will refrain from any other material service improvements (such as new IFE, upgraded First, etc.).

I predict no new focus cities/hubs. Competition is too fierce and the costs to implement a new focus city/hub is just too great. US would be sold (or would buy someone else) first.

I realize this thread is the future of a standalone US, but I will throw this in: By following the above strategy -- focusing on one's strengths and running a solid operation -- it will position US for an inevitable merger of some sort.

 

[Richard]

PLEASE do not start multiple threads on the same topic. This discussion can be continued in the existent thread here: http://airlineforums.com/topic/49711-mergedacquiredor-not/.

Kindly check to see if the topic you want to comment on already exists before starting a new thread.

Thank you.