Clubs And Shuttle

[USA320Pilot]

Clubs and Shuttle

ARLINGTON (theHub.com) - As US Airways continues to implement its Transformation Plan and reduce costs, it will close four of its airport Clubs due to reduced demand. Club facilities in Indianapolis; Syracuse and Rochester, N.Y.; and the B Concourse Club in Pittsburgh will close on Dec. 3.

“These were difficult decisions, but important to ensure that the Club product remains financially viable, as it is a key element of our Transformation Plan to offer our customers the full service associated with the Club network,â€￾ said Ben Baldanza, senior vice president of Marketing and Planning. With these closures, US Airways will operate 20 Clubs at 17 airports worldwide.

In another specialty market, the US Airways Shuttle is performing cost-savings efforts and product evolution, taking into account shifting customer preferences.

For example, on weekdays, US Airways has historically provided Shuttle customers with a morning beverage service in the gate area. Over time, there has been a downward trend in usage, as customers rely more heavily on airport vendors and US Airways Clubs in Boston, Washington and New York’s LaGuardia airport.

To reduce costs, US Airways will discontinue the morning gate area beverage service effective Nov. 22. The Shuttle "Latest News" publication also has been discontinued. The company will continue to offer newspapers and magazines corresponding to the professional needs of our customers.

There are no plans to alter the unique advantages of the US Airways Shuttle product, including comprehensive airport facilities, shops and restaurants and US Airways Club locations in close proximity to our Shuttle boarding gates; pre-assigned seats; and First Class availability. And, as part of the reallocation of resources under the Transformation Plan, all Shuttle routes will utilize Airbus aircraft effective Feb. 6.

 

[Light Years]

Oh for pete's sake. I thought the Airbuses were too big for the Shuttle so they took them off when the Shuttle WAS all Airbus. They also had a competitive all coach, extra legroom product whereas now it's a regular old mainline plane with a first class, which no one is interested in for a 20 minute flight and raises catering costs and reduces turnaround time. Not to mention the cycles they are putting on those planes.

So now we are back to putting the narrowbodies with the longest legs on the shortest routes with two classes.

The perfect plane for the Shuttle would be the E190. Send those Airbuses to big cities, use them what they were made for. Costs would also be lowered by increasing mainline stage length rather than reducing it. I still think there should be a dedicated Shuttle fleet, with Shuttle amenities, gallies set up for quick turnaround, and the Shuttle livery for marketing. The Shuttle specific fleet could be outfitted with laptop power ports and such to cater to the business traveler.

I know the argument against a sub-fleet is flexibility in scheduling. Well what about a mainline plane thats stuck in ORD thats suppposed to do the 5:00 Shuttle? Ooops! The Shuttle needs to be competitive and consistent, and I think crews, aircraft, and ground personell should be decicated to the Shuttle while they are working it to keep it out of the broader mess of mainline.

 

[Heinrich]

"And, as part of the reallocation of resources under the Transformation Plan, all Shuttle routes will utilize Airbus aircraft effective Feb. 6."

Wasn't expecting this. I believe it may be for the power ports for laptops.

 

[Flying Titan]

I would hope that they did a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis regarding the club closures. UAIR remains dominant in cities like ROC and SYR because it has offerings that the competition doesn't. For many of the most frequent business travelers, the club is near the top of the list of these offerings. How many choose a US Airways Dash-8 or ERJ over a JetBlue A320 from NYC just because they know that on their return, they will be able to get work done at the airport? Maybe the cost of the clubs is just too high and this is actually a smart move, but I suspect that this may cost as much (or more) than it will save.

 

[USFlyer]

I would hope that they did a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis regarding the club closures. UAIR remains dominant in cities like ROC and SYR because it has offerings that the competition doesn't.

[post="200087"][/post]​

Well, how many buy US Club memberships yet fly jetBlue anyway? You don't need to be flying US to use a US Club if you're a member.

 

[sfb]

In another specialty market, the US Airways Shuttle is performing cost-savings efforts and product evolution, taking into account shifting customer preferences.

For example, on weekdays, US Airways has historically provided Shuttle customers with a morning beverage service in the gate area. Over time, there has been a downward trend in usage, as customers rely more heavily on airport vendors and US Airways Clubs in Boston, Washington and New York’s LaGuardia airport.

To reduce costs, US Airways will discontinue the morning gate area beverage service effective Nov. 22. The Shuttle "Latest News" publication also has been discontinued. The company will continue to offer newspapers and magazines corresponding to the professional needs of our customers.

There are no plans to alter the unique advantages of the US Airways Shuttle product, including comprehensive airport facilities, shops and restaurants and US Airways Club locations in close proximity to our Shuttle boarding gates; pre-assigned seats; and First Class availability. And, as part of the reallocation of resources under the Transformation Plan, all Shuttle routes will utilize Airbus aircraft effective Feb. 6.

Well, I have to wonder if the "downward trend in usage" of the morning beverage service is proportional to the general downward trend in traffic on the Shuttle. Even absent this consideration, it's also important to ask how important those amenities are to the customers and how eliminating these amenities positions the US Airways Shuttle in relation to the Delta Shuttle. If the customers don't care, that's fine, but if US loses one full-fare passenger per flight (on average) then the "savings" probably ended up costing US even more in revenue.

It seems to me that laptop power ports aren't all that important on a flight where you can actually use a laptop for maybe 30 minutes. And by the same token, neither is first class unless you're just looking to get a couple of free drinks. It just seems to me that US is doing its darnedest to hand this important market over to Delta.

 

[Light Years]

Beer and wine is already complimentary on the Shuttle, so First really serves no purpose.

 

[firstamendment]

Beer and wine is already complimentary on the Shuttle, so First really serves no purpose.

[post="200158"][/post]​

F/C gets spirits...coach doesn't. I know, big diff.

 

[Flying Titan]

Well, how many buy US Club memberships yet fly jetBlue anyway? You don't need to be flying US to use a US Club if you're a member.

[post="200099"][/post]​

That's certainly worth consideration, but it's been my experience that most of the people - by far - in a given club are flying UAIR. If you don't fly UAIR pretty regularly, it doesn't seem likely that you would buy a Club membership. Take away the Club and it just seems like one less reason for people traveling to/from ROC and SYR on a regular basis to go with UAIR.

 

[Art at ISP]

Take away the Club and it just seems like one less reason for people traveling to/from ROC and SYR on a regular basis to go with UAIR.

[post="200429"][/post]​

BINGO You hit the nail on the head.

We're not done with ROC yet....

 

[Flying Titan]

BINGO You hit the nail on the head.

We're not done with ROC yet....

[post="200449"][/post]​

I'd love to know what you're doing. I hit both on a regular basis and consider both to be a valuable part of my Club membership. It also seems a bit odd to me because I've noticed both have been busier in the last few months - especially SYR.

 

[firstamendment]

Lest we all forget that the original purpose of the Shuttle was to get on the plane at your convenience and paid on the airplane. There was no bev service as the f/a's collected the fairs...hence the name shuttle...but 911 changed alot.