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On 8/11/2003 6:43:46 PM LambertMan wrote:
I was just wondering where Virgin America would have its hub at. Here are a few places that come to my mind:
1. PIT-Mediocre O&D (5 million), but if US pulls out there will be no dominate carrier, and it has no LUV presence, something it has over STL.
1. STL-Much better O&D (10 million), but has a strong LUV presence and a decent AA presence for now, but I believe the cuts from AA are supposed to keep coming, you can bet on it, good postioning, right in the middle of the country, could serve business markets where LUV doesnt, ATL, BOS, JFK, MIA, ORD, MSP just off of O&D alone.....you get the picture I think. (Assuming US, B6, FL, or F9 dont setup shop)
3. MSY-For its size, good O&D at 9 million a year, no dominate carrier, and its decently positioned, slightly south, but not bad.
4. MCI-Good O&D at almost 10 million, airport right now looks like a ghost town, has a big LUV presence that may make them shy away. (bigger LUV presence than STL)
Second tier competitors:
COS, ABQ, AUS, IND (gate space???), and IAD.
And one other thing, will this be a feeder flight for a Virgin Atlantic LGW flight? I would bet on it. Let me hear your take on these issues.
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AAAGGGHHH! Some of you people just don't get it. If you are set up to be a low-fare carrier than you don't start thinking about "where can I get the highest yield?". Your above logic is so faulty. Lets compare STL and PIT. Why does STL have double the O&D traffic of PIT? .... Because they have lower fares. The PIT passengers have been held captive by some of the highest fares in the country.
If you are truly looking for a hub than I would suggest MidAmerica. Long runways, middle of the country, no competition. Of course you airline-executive-wannabees will start trying to figure out the yield. All I can thinkof is that it is lower cost than anywhere else you could put a hub. Using yield as your basis is what got the majors into their morass. They started making business decisions on where they could make the most money. Then employees came and struck until they got a lion's share of the pot and LCC's drive down the yields on so many routes that the majors can't make a profit.
If I were VA I would go to Baltimore and enter some kind of international agreement with SW (and maybe AirTran). Let those carriers get the passengers to the East Coast and Virgin America will get them across the pond.