Dave Porks Pittsburgh?

[delldude]

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On 4/8/2003 5:17:56 PM bigbusdrvr wrote:

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On 4/8/2003 10:34:10 AM delldude wrote:

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On 4/7/2003 7:49:30 PM FlyingHippie wrote:

You guys are making much ado about nothing.  In the current sadistic airline management scheme of things, who else would want to put a hub in Pittsburgh?  Point blank, US Airways is holding a gun to PIT - they''ll flinch and give in.  It''s just so refreshing to see the "Jesse James School of Management" playing Russian Roulette with somebody else other than employees.  How can the employees possibly feel sorry for the local feds when they''ve been pistol whipped for the past 16 months by Jesee and the gang.  Beware: tactics like this have a way of "backfiring" at some point, someday, sometime. 

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personaly,i prefer the "deer hunter" negotiations and contract modifications method.

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I was based in pit during the 90''s. If my memorie serves me, the mayor or some city higher up was making a big to-do about driving to cleveland to fly because usair rates were to expensive. I think there is a bus service now catering to the business traveler, internet access etc., that serves pit-cle!!

Well, grandma always said be careful what you wish for. Looks like these pit folks will be driving to cle whether they want to or not!!!

It was the last bastion of the hardcore alegheny mentality anyway, I say GOOD RIDDANCE.

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yeah...you have a nice us airwaays day too, pal.next time you go to L.A.-take a bus.

 

[usfliboi]

Editorial: Saving the hub / Pittsburgh and US Airways need to work it out

Wednesday, April 09, 2003



editorial pitt gazzette




In its seven-month march through Chapter 11, US Airways eliminated jobs, curtailed benefits and reduced payments to creditors on the way to a reorganization approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Allegheny County officials, who had every reason to support the do-or-die maneuvers of the region's largest private employer, were stunned when, 21 minutes before emerging from bankruptcy, the airline turned its cost-cutting knife on Pittsburgh.

As we said last week, the county and the airport authority shouldn't have been surprised that US Airways, after seeking concessions on many fronts, would come looking for relief from their lease payments at Pittsburgh International Airport, the bulk of which go to carry $673 million in debt. That said, we can understand why some Pittsburghers feel betrayed, like the airport officials who said this week that US Airways told them as late as two days before leaving bankruptcy that it was not going to reject its county lease obligations.

But it did, and now the airport authority is planning its response. One option is to file an objection in bankruptcy court to the airline's 11th-hour action, claiming a violation of the bankruptcy code. Another is to get US Airways to agree to a 60-day timetable to negotiate new lease terms, with the provision that the authority may file an eventual challenge in court.

With 9,000 local jobs at stake, not to mention other strengths conferred by a regional airline hub, this is a negotiation that requires not only skill but also fortitude. Since the state hosts US Airways hubs in Pittsburgh and in Philadelphia, Gov. Ed Rendell should lead the effort on behalf of the public. Sens. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter and the state's U.S. House delegation also should get active.

After all, US Airways is one beneficiary of $10 billion in loan guarantees and $5 billion in direct aid through the federal bailout of the industry. Like other carriers, it is seeking more taxpayer aid this year to help it through the present downturn. Closer to home, the county was behind the airline when it sought public funding for a proposed $600 million maintenance center, and it is considering the carrier's request for $155 million in financing for new facilities today.

While there's risk in the county antagonizing a company that represents so many benefits, US Airways risks the unanticipated costs of abandoning its Pittsburgh hub. With the airline industry weak with excess supply, it will be hard to find another region willing to invest what Pittsburgh has in the dicey future of US Airways.

Despite such public support, the carrier, in its quarter-to-midnight decision, told the region this is strictly business. Well, it is for Allegheny County, too. Frank negotiations by both sides will convince the parties that this relationship pays dividends all 'round.

 

[diogenes]

How does it make sense to have two hubs (PHL and PIT) located so close together? One weather system wacks them both out. You''re competing with yourself. Right now, someone flying ALB to MCO can be routed over CLT, PIT or PHL. This is cannabilization, not competition.

I''ll grant you PIT is a much nicer facility and has a better operational environment than PHL. Unfortunately, with the thin margins airlines operate on, O&D is a deciding factor.

If PIT takes a major hit, the only sacred cow left is the Palace.

''Burghers, I feel your pain. It hit me on an personal level to watch management gut PI. I get no satisfaction watching the axe swing your way.

 

[tadjr]

I think with the right mix of planes and a little tweaking of the schedule, both PHL and PIT can be workable. With PHLs operational problems, they really need to look at the traffic connecting there and get rid of any of it that isnt generating revenue for PHL, per se. If its all connection traffic, that plane and gate space would be better off somewhere else so "PHL" planes could be better used. I know there is going to be the need for connecting traffic in PHL to fill the extra seats, but using PHL mainly as a connecting point (excluding INTL) with the current problems it has is stupid. It would be much better to shift this connecting traffic to an RJ based PIT with more connection banks (3 or 4 is not a decent number of banks for a hub), opening up PHL to the real money making INTL and Caribbean traffic with limited connections. You run the SJs from PIT to upstate NY/NE with greater frequency and add long hauls out of PIT to add to the connection possibilities while decreasing the PHL flights used for mainly connections. Both hubs are better utilized for the purposes they are suited for.

 

[funguy2]

A couple of comments.

I am not sure that you can move the flow traffic from PHL to PIT and expect it to be just as profitable, since any flight''s profit depends on the mix of local and flow traffic...

One weather system does not affect the whole region equally... And, PIT keeps much more of its capacity than PHL during similar adverse conditions due to the design of the facilities and congestion factors.

US Airways ought to see how other airlines with similar issues do it... Alaska at SEA and PDX, America West at PHX and LAS, and Continental at CLE and EWR all seem to be in a similar "close-hub" boat, and they all seem to make it work. Not to mention, this has worked for USAir before, it should work again.

 

[trvlr64]

yet another story to wet the appetite......now the DAVE''s want even more $$$ from Pennsylvania.


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/s_129968.html

 

[wings396]

I too agree that PIT and PHL can still work. We have service to both from my station and they both take a different mix of traffic. PIT always did well until the choice of connections were cut. Most of the PIT traffic was heading West or to the Great lakes region with some also going down to TX. PHL on the other had took traffic to the NE and some Florida as well the islands. CLT also does very well and is no our best performer to the SE and the islands. It is no secret that most people will avoid going thru PHL at all costs. PHL may be a moneymaker, but everyone that I know hates going thru there and prefer PIT anyday. PIT is shrinking due to self inflicted wounds.

 

[W:EXCH:INVOL]

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On 4/18/2003 10:22:57 AM trvlr64 wrote:

yet another story to wet the appetite......now the DAVE''s want even more $$$ from Pennsylvania.


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/s_129968.html

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Reminds me of Steve Martin in "The Jerk". "All we need is lease adjustments. That''s all we need. And 32 r/j engines. That''s it. Just lease adjustments and 32 r/j engines. That''s all we need. Oh, and 16 mil in tax breaks, but that''s all. Just lease adjustments, 32 r/j engines, and 16 mil in tax breaks. That''s it. Really. Well, maybe 51 mil to move and 50 mil for parts, but that''s all. Just lease adjustments, 32 r/j engines, 16 mil in tax breaks, 51 mil to move and 50 mil for parts.

That''s all we need."

INVOL

 

[RowUnderDCA]

US Airways Says It Will Stay in D.C. Area
Pa. Governor Sparked Speculation

Saturday, April 19, 2003; Page D14

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2003Apr18.html

 

[ClueByFour]

Maybe Rendell ought to tell the Daves to try and bang the District out of six hundres million worth of freebies...

 

[HappyMechanic]

***Written by firstamendment***

BTW, I am not anti PIT. Nobody likes to be uprooted or feel their backyard is being destroyed, but such is life. I work for U. I don't own it. What management decides to open or close is out of my control. My happiness has to come beyond the company makings or I would go crazy. That's why so many f/a's commute to their bases. They have decided to live where they will be happy and base themselves where it is the most convienant. You can't wait on U to make you happy. That is something we have to do for ourselves.

Good luck to all of us. No creme cheese here...just tired of the constant negativity.



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Thank you so much for posting that! There really is much to be happy about in life and in this company, if you choose to look at it that way. I love this job.

 

[B6Busdriver]

Last time I checked Crystal City is in VA not DC.