Another Missed Opportunity For Us

USFlyer

Veteran
Aug 19, 2002
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(I posted this here as an example of yet another missed point-to-point opportunity for US.)

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040720/cgtu031_1.html

Northwest Announces Major Expansion From Indianapolis
Tuesday July 20, 12:00 pm ET
Carrier Adding 19 New Flights to 10 Popular Business and Leisure Destinations


INDIANAPOLIS, July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northwest Airlines (Nasdaq: NWAC - News) today announced a major expansion of its Indianapolis schedule that will more than double the number of departures it offers by adding new nonstop service to Boston, Ft. Myers, Fla.; Hartford, Conn.; Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia, Raleigh/Durham, N.C. and Washington. All 19 of the new flights begin October 31, 2004.
When combined with its existing schedule of 17 daily flights to its three domestic hubs of Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis/St. Paul, the airline will offer an all-jet schedule from Indianapolis International Airport totaling up to 36 flights a day to 13 destinations, more jet aircraft departures than what's offered by any other airline. In addition, through its three hubs, Northwest and its marketing partners offer Indianapolis travelers connections to another 436 destinations.

"Northwest is proud to be the leading choice of travelers in America's Heartland," said Fay Beauchine, vice president of sales and customer relations. "Our Indianapolis expansion builds on successful schedule enhancements we have made in other key Midwestern markets for Northwest such as Milwaukee and Grand Rapids."

Northwest's new flights to Hartford and Raleigh/Durham will be the only nonstops offered to those destinations from Indianapolis. Flights to many of the new destinations are ideally timed for a one-day business trip.

"Our new Indianapolis schedule will provide business and leisure travelers with a schedule, array of services and network reach that only a world-class airline can provide," Beauchine continued. "When combined with the scope of our domestic marketing partners, Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines, Northwest offers Indianapolis travelers unmatched access to the world. In fact, we carry more international travelers from Indianapolis than any other airline."

Northwest will offer daily flights from Indianapolis to Ft. Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Orlando. The Las Vegas and Los Angeles flights will be operated with a 124-seat Airbus A319, with 16 seats in first class and 108 seats in coach class. Northwest's new Ft. Myers and Orlando flights will be operated with a 100-seat DC9, with 16 seats in first class and 84 seats in coach class.

Through its Northwest Airlink partner, Pinnacle Airlines, Northwest will offer two departures to Hartford, Philadelphia and Raleigh/Durham. Northwest Airlink will also offer three departures to the key business destinations of Boston, New York (LaGuardia Airport) and Washington (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport).

All of the Northwest Airlink flights will be operated with 44-seat Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs). Some of the Northwest Airlink flights will operate six days per week, with exceptions being Saturday or Sunday.

Indianapolis travelers using Northwest's new nonstop service will also be able to take advantage of:

-- WorldPerks. Northwest's WorldPerks program offers Indianapolis
travelers a wider array of options to both earn and redeem frequent
flyer miles. WorldPerks members can earn or redeem miles to any of
the 236 cities served by Northwest and Northwest Airlink carriers
worldwide, as well as the many hundreds of cities served by WorldPerks
partner airlines such as KLM, Continental Airlines and Delta Air
Lines.

-- First class availability. Northwest offers more first class seats
from Indianapolis than any other airline. The airline's new flights
to Ft. Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Orlando will offer 16-seat
first class cabins. WorldPerks members who achieve "Elite" status
enjoy unlimited complimentary upgrades to first class.

-- The most self-service functionality. Northwest's self-service
check-in program is the most developed in the airline industry,
offering customers more functionality including the option of
checking-in, obtaining a boarding pass, changing seats, and performing
many other functions over the Internet at nwa.com or through one of
the airline's 903 self-service check-in kiosks in 193 airports, more
than any other airline in the world. At Indianapolis International
Airport, Northwest customers wishing to take advantage of the speed,
convenience, and control of self-service check-in can use nwa.com to
obtain their boarding pass, or visit one of 12 self-service check-in
kiosks.


Customers currently holding tickets for travel October 31 or beyond on connecting itineraries from Indianapolis will be able to change to Northwest's new nonstop services without paying an administrative change fee, provided changes are made by July 31, 2004.

Northwest's new Indianapolis nonstops are currently open for sale via the Internet at http://www.nwa.com , by calling Northwest Airlines Reservations at 1-800-225-2525, or through some travel agencies. All of the flights will be widely available for sale on Saturday, July 24, 2004.

NORTHWEST COMMEMORATES NEW INDIANAPOLIS SERVICE WITH FREQUENT FLYER MILE BONUS OFFER

From October 31 through December 31, 2004, members of Northwest's WorldPerks frequent flyer program will receive a bonus of 1,000 WorldPerks miles for flying round-trip on the airline's new nonstop service between Indianapolis and Boston, Ft. Myers, Hartford, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Raleigh/Durham, or Washington. Registration is required prior to travel and must be completed no later than November 30, 2004.

Fast and easy online enrollment in the WorldPerks program is available at http://www.nwa.com/freqfly/direct/enrol , or by calling 1-888-955-7878. For a complete list of terms and conditions, and to register for this bonus offer, WorldPerks members should visit http://www.nwa.com/IND04 .

Northwest currently offers 17 jet flights per day from Indianapolis, including eight to its WorldGateway at Detroit hub, three to its convenient Memphis hub, and six to its hub at Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Northwest Airlines is the world's fifth largest airline with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam, and approximately 1,500 daily departures. Northwest and its travel partners serve nearly 750 cities in almost 120 countries on six continents. In 2003, consumers from throughout the world recognized Northwest's efforts to make travel easier. Northwest's WorldPerks program was named the most popular North American frequent flyer program by readers of TIME Asia in the 2003 TIME Readers' Travel Choice Awards. A 2003 J.D. Power and Associates study of airports ranked Minneapolis/St. Paul and Detroit, home to Northwest's two largest hubs, in second and fourth place among large domestic airports in overall customer satisfaction.




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Source: Northwest Airlines
 
Even I'm starting to question what US management is doing outside of labor renegotiations. I think if they announced plans such as this it might motivate the employees to get agreements done and ratified. There's no reason why IND, MCO, MCI, CMH and several other cities could not have service such as this, especially with a pull down in PIT.
 
I would not call this a "missed opportunity"... I would call this US (and ATA) looking vulnerable, and NWA setting itself to step in... US needs to step up and defend their turf... Will they? That is the question.
 

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